toilet
Americannoun
-
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.
-
a lavatory.
-
a bathroom.
-
a dressing room, especially one containing a bath.
-
the act or process of dressing or grooming oneself, including bathing and arranging the hair.
to make one's toilet; busy at her toilet.
-
the dress or costume of a person; any particular costume.
toilet of white silk.
-
Surgery. the cleansing of a part after childbirth or a wound after an operation.
-
Archaic. dressing table.
idioms
noun
-
another word for lavatory
-
old-fashioned the act of dressing and preparing oneself
to make one's toilet
-
old-fashioned a dressing table or the articles used when making one's toilet
-
rare costume
-
the cleansing of a wound, etc, after an operation or childbirth
Etymology
Origin of toilet
1530–40; < French toilette small cloth, doily, dressing table, equivalent to toile toil 2 + -ette -et
Explanation
When you've really got to go, you need the toilet. It's what you use to relieve yourself after you've drunk way too much lemonade. A toilet is the most basic feature of a modern bathroom. You can also use this word for the room that houses it, as in "Excuse me, where is the toilet?" — although in the U.S. most people say "bathroom" or "restroom" instead. Another meaning of toilet is "the routine of washing and dressing," and this old-fashioned definition is the original one, from a word meaning "cover or bag for clothes."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Why You Shouldn’t Sit on the Toilet Longer Than 15 Minutes,” a Men’s Health article explained in 2016.
From Slate • Sep. 12, 2025
So my Toilet Head Tour is exciting, I’ve just been working out this whole spring, I just did three months in a row.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2024
As his popularity grew, the press dubbed him "Mr Sanitation" and "The Toilet Man of India".
From BBC • Aug. 16, 2023
The same year, London introduced the Community Toilet Scheme, where shops and restaurants could list their toilets as open to the public on the City of London’s website in exchange for a small fee.
From New York Times • Mar. 22, 2023
And maybe some cosmic forces happened to perfectly converge in the Universe of the Upside-Down Toilet.
From "Winger" by Andrew Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
