toilet

American  

[toi-lit] / ˈtɔɪ lɪt /

noun

1. a bathroom fixture consisting of a bowl, usually with a detachable, hinged seat and lid, and a device for flushing with water, used for defecation and urination.

2. a lavatory.

3. a bathroom.

4. toilet bowl.

5. a dressing room, especially one containing a bath.

6. the act or process of dressing or grooming oneself, including bathing and arranging the hair.

   to make one's toilet; busy at her toilet.

7. toilet set.

8. the dress or costume of a person; any particular costume.

   toilet of white silk.

9. Surgery. the cleansing of a part after childbirth or a wound after an operation.

10. Archaic. dressing table.

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idioms

1. go down / in the toilet, to become worthless or profitless; be doomed.

   The team's entire season went down the toilet.

toilet British  

/ ˈtɔɪlɪt /

noun

1. another word for lavatory

2. old-fashioned the act of dressing and preparing oneself

   to make one's toilet

3. old-fashioned a dressing table or the articles used when making one's toilet

4. rare costume

5. the cleansing of a wound, etc, after an operation or childbirth

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Etymology

Origin of toilet

1530–40; < French toilette small cloth, doily, dressing table, equivalent to toile toil ² + -ette -et

Example Sentences

“My class was supposed to go last year, but Freddy flushed my permission slip down the toilet and I had to stay in the school cafeteria.”

From Literature

She could slam the door, flush the toilet till it overflowed, spit under the partition.

From Literature

“If this doesn’t get corrected, our whole industry will just go down the toilet.”

From Los Angeles Times

Then there were the toilets: Literal, singing ones for hydration brand Liquid IV’s Super Bowl debut, urging viewers to check what color their urine was.

From The Wall Street Journal

She said the museum had been nominated for the toilet award by an unknown member of the public.

From BBC

Related Words

• latrine
• lavatory
• outhouse
• restroom