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

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

One day, the owner, an older man likely in his 70s, asked me to clean the toilet area in the back of the stock room.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

The consumer-facing toilet business is, of course, quite removed from the semiconductor sphere.

From MarketWatch • May 2, 2026

Still, she has described Inside Safe as a lifeline for L.A.’s unhoused residents, offering toilet facilities, hot showers and rooms with doors that lock.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

Can we do better than cheap, one-ply toilet paper?

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

I tuck the blankets back around Helena, slip on my shoes and coat, and act like I’m going out to the toilet.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

Related Words

• latrine
• lavatory
• outhouse
• restroom