Definition of "colostomy" [colostomy]

• Surgical construction of an artificial excretory opening from the colon. (noun)
• The opening created by such a surgical procedure. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The word colostomy is derived from Greek: ‘kolon’ which means large bowel, ‘stoumon’ which means to provide an opening, and ‘tome’ which means a cutting operation."
• "The same day, Ruth Sherman, 88, of Sunrise, Florida, was asked about a visible protrusion from her waist band, which she identified as her colostomy bag."
• "And one thing that they do sometimes -- excuse me, a little bit of throat congestion -- they actually sometimes will divert some of the intestine into a bag -- it's called a colostomy bag -- so that actually the intestine gets a chance to heal, the abdominal cavity gets a chance to heal while that suture line is fixing itself."