Rumbling noise caused by the muscular contractions of peristalsis, the process that moves the contents of the stomach and intestines downward.
A dictionary published in 1719 entitled Glossographia Anglicana Nova defined borborygmus as “a rumbling noise in the guts.” That definition is hard to beat: borborygmus is indeed the gurgling growls that emanate from one’s stomach before dinner. The word derives from an ancient Greek source that meant the same thing, and which was imitative in origin; in other words, the ancient Greeks thought that the word borborygmus sounded like a rumbling stomach. When you are in the midst of a job interview, it’s amazing how loud these rumbles can be; still, the decibel level is nothing compared to that produced by the stomachs of other creatures. Writing in The Sunday Express in 1927, H. G. Wells reported that African elephant hunters “can tell the proximity of a herd by the borborygmic noises the poor brutes emit.”
The bubbling, gurgling passage of gas across the transverse colon.
Rumbling sounds from the intestines caused by movements of fluid and gas.
A rumbling, gurgling noise in the intestines.
A rumbling noise in the abdomen, caused by gas in the intestine.
An abdominal gurgle due to movement of fluid and gas in the intestine. Excessive borborygmi occur when intestinal movement is increased, for example in the ‘irritable bowel syndrome and in intestinal obstruction, or when there is more intestinal gas and fluid than normal.
A gurgling, splashing sound normally heard over the large intestine; it is caused by passage of gas through the liquid contents of the intestine. Its absence may indicate paralytic ileus or obstruction of the bowels due to torsion, volvulus, or strangulated hernia.