excretion

1. The process whereby the undigested residue of food and the waste products of metabolism are eliminated, material is removed to regulate the composition of body fluids and tissues, or substances are expelled to perform functions on an exterior surface. 2. The product of a tissue or organ that is material to be passed out of the body. SYN: excreta. Cf.:secretion. [see excrement]

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ex·cre·tion ik-'skrē-shən n

1) the act or process of excreting

2 a) something eliminated by the process of excretion that is composed chiefly of urine or sweat in mammals including humans and of comparable materials in other animals, characteristically includes products of protein degradation (as urea or uric acid), usu. differs from ordinary bodily secretions by lacking any further utility to the organism that produces it, and is distinguished from waste materials (as feces) that have merely passed into or through the alimentary canal without being incorporated into the body proper

b) a waste product (as urine, feces, or vomit) eliminated from an animal body: EXCREMENT not used technically

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n.

the removal of the waste products of metabolism from the body, mainly through the action of the kidney. Excretion also includes the loss of water, salts, and some urea through the sweat glands and carbon dioxide and water vapour from the lungs, and the term is also used to include the egestion of faeces.

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ex·cre·tion (eks-kreґshən) [L. excretio] 1. the act, process, or function of excreting. 2. material that is excreted. Cf. elimination. excretory adj