water closet
Americannoun
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an enclosed room or compartment containing a toilet bowl fitted with a mechanism for flushing.
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Older Use. a privy or bathroom. WC, w.c.
noun
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a lavatory flushed by water
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a small room that has a lavatory
Etymology
Origin of water closet
First recorded in 1745–55
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.
Paar left his program after NBC censors cut a water closet joke from his monologue, which became one of the biggest TV industry controversies of that era.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 24, 2025
However, despite the European-style bathroom with a separate water closet, the bathroom had enough room to be comfortable.
From Salon • Jun. 25, 2022
The toilet, in this scheme, is placed in a small, entirely separate water closet, the old-fashioned euphemism that is coming back in use to describe a small, functional room kept isolated from leisure-oriented bathrooms.
From Washington Post • Aug. 31, 2021
Photos of his alleged water closet circulated all over social media, showing a veritable throne with lion heads.
From Slate • Jul. 28, 2021
He’s so far out of this century he can’t go to the bathroom, he goes to the water closet.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
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.
