turd
n. countablen. a piece of solid waste from the body. It is a very informal and rude word for poop.
n. a piece of solid excrement. Often used figuratively as a derogatory term for a person perceived as contemptible or unpleasant.
The dog left a turd on the sidewalk.
He stepped right into a fresh turd while walking through the park in his new shoes.
The comedian's set was a total turd, failing to elicit even a single polite chuckle from the increasingly hostile audience.
From Middle English toord, tord, from Old English tord (“piece of dung, excrement, filth”), from Proto-West Germanic tord, from Proto-Germanic turdą (“manure, mud”), from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to split, flay”). Cognate with Old English tyrdel (“dropping, small piece of excrement”), Old High German zort (“dung, excrement”), Old Norse torð- (“dung-”, in compounds), Middle Dutch tord (“lump of excrement”). More at tear, treddle.
Highly informal and vulgar; avoid in professional or academic contexts.
- 01
polish a turd
To work on a time-consuming and ultimately pointless or impossible task; to try to perfect what is inherently bad.
- 02
turd in the punchbowl
Something that ruins or spoils everything else; a nuisance or problem; an unpleasant or disagreeable detail.
- 03
you can't polish a turd
Something inherently unfavourable or unpleasant cannot be improved.