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plural cloacas or cloacae
(sometimes figurative) A sewer. quotations examples
The Thames, polluted with the filthy effusions of the cloacae.
1773, Gentleman's Magazine, number 43, page 598
1850, Thomas Carlyle, chapter IV, in Latter-day Pamphlets, page 46
After working an hour, I began to speculate on the distance one had to go before the cloaca was reached the chances we had of missing it altogether.
1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 266
(zoology) The duct in reptiles, amphibians and birds, as well as most fish and some mammals, which serves as the common outlet for urination, defecation, and reproduction. quotations
In birds the rectum, at the termination of its canal, forms an oval or elongated pouch […] and then expands into a cavity, which has been named cloaca.
1822, John Mason Good, The Study of Medicine, volume I, page 7
An outhouse or lavatory. quotations examples
To every house […] a cloaca.
1840, Frederick Marryat, chapter XXIV, in Olla Podrida
Only think of that cloaca being supplied daily with such dainty bibliographical treasures!
1880, William Blades, The Enemies of Books, page 55
(anatomy) A duct through which gangrenous material escapes a body. quotations examples
Across this shell [sc. of bone] small holes are eaten, by which the matter escapes, and which are called cloacae (Weidmann).
1846, Joseph François Malgaigne, translated by Frederick Brittan, Manual of Operative Surgery, page 172