take a shit

verb

"take-a-shit" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“take a shit” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To defecate.

Corpus desk

Index EN-take-a-shit · take a shit · English

take a shit · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for take a shit
PropertyValue
Headwordtake a shit
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “take a shit” in English

take a shitfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

take a shit is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for take a shit, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is take a shit, spelled T-A-K-E- -A- -S-H-I-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    To defecate.
  2. 2
    To fail or malfunction.
  3. 3
    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see take, a, shit.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how take a shit appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Is Rachel still taking a shit? We gotta go now.
  2. I had to use the stairs because the lift took a shit this morning.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "take a shit"?
"take a shit" is spelled T-A-K-E- -A- -S-H-I-T.
What does "take a shit" mean?
As a verb, "take a shit" means: To defecate.
What language does "take a shit" come from?
"take a shit" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list