commode
Americannoun
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commodes
plural
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a low cabinet or similar piece of furniture, often highly ornamental, containing drawers or shelves.
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a stand or cupboard containing a chamber pot or washbasin.
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a portable toilet, especially one on a chairlike frame with wheels, as for an invalid.
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an elaborate headdress consisting chiefly of a high framework decorated with lace, ribbons, etc., worn perched on top of the hair by women in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
noun
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a piece of furniture, usually highly ornamented, containing drawers or shelves
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a bedside table with a cabinet below for a chamber pot or washbasin
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a movable piece of furniture, sometimes in the form of a chair, with a hinged flap concealing a chamber pot
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a woman's high-tiered headdress of lace, worn in the late 17th century
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of commode
First recorded in 1680–90; from French, from Latin commodus “convenient, fitting, suitable”; equivalent to com- + mode 1
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.
See Examples For:
I mean, let’s face it, we don’t put ADA-required rails on every commode in every bathroom.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026
Three years later, the Guggenheim sent its commode to England’s Blenheim Palace, where it was installed in Winston Churchill’s wood-paneled bathroom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
There's a commode in her living room until she can get a downstairs toilet, and wall rails have had to be fitted to help her move about.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2025
Gonzalez said Medi-Cal determined the chair, which can cost more than $1,000, was “a luxury” item that they did not need — but that they qualified for a commode.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2024
Maybe I can use the commode and sneak out through a window?
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Some of the nurses were wearing adult nappies or using patient commodes because there wasn’t time for toilet breaks.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2024
Renaissance and Medieval pieces, and the “quality camp” or “fantasy furniture” he favored — weird and whimsical pieces embellished with mythical creatures; chairs sprouting antlers, torcheres bedecked with gargoyles, commodes atop griffin feet.
From New York Times ● Feb. 27, 2024
Bear said the commodes are often out of toilet paper as well.
From Seattle Times ● May 2, 2021
Composting commodes have been placed throughout the camp.
From Time ● Dec. 2, 2016
This one smelled like a mixture of stale beer, Clorox bleach, and Shelly’s fruity perfume, but it was still less obnoxious than most public commodes.
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
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.
