laundry
Americannoun
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laundries
plural
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articles of clothing, linens, etc., that have been or are to be washed.
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a business establishment where clothes, linens, etc., are laundered.
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a room or area, as in a home or apartment building, reserved for doing the family wash.
noun
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a place where clothes and linen are washed and ironed
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the clothes or linen washed and ironed
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the act of laundering
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of laundry
1350–1400; Middle English lavandrie < Middle French lavanderie. See launder, -y 3
Explanation
Laundry refers to the clothes and bedding that you can wash in your washing machine or at the laundromat. Nothing smells quite as good as clean laundry. When you do your laundry, you wash your dirty clothes, as well as any towels, sheets, and other linens that could use a wash too. A laundry room is the place in an apartment building, business, or dormitory where there are washers and dryers. Sometimes people send their laundry out to a commercial laundry, where they pay someone else to wash their things. Laundry has a Latin root, lavare, "to wash."
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:
But as game length returns to those levels, one possible explanation is the yellow laundry littering fields everywhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
"One little trip like that is enough for a load of laundry, cleaning the house, and cooking, and just like that you're out of water," Aguilar said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
Everyday actions generate billions of these nanoparticles, Yan noted, from washing a load of laundry to reheating a dish in the microwave.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
Still, the robots have some homework to do before they can make a dent in your laundry tasks.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
Sometimes you’re on laundry, other seasons you’re assigned to dish duty in the kitchen or compost shoveling.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
An apology is also expected in Northern Ireland but not until after a public inquiry has been carried out, following a recommendation from a 2021 report on mother and baby institutions, Magdalene laundries and workhouses.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Former residents who spent time in the homes, or working in Magdalene laundries, are urged to register their interest in taking part before the deadline on 1 May.
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2025
The job sites expected to be most affected include industrial warehouses, commercial laundries, manufacturing facilities and restaurant kitchens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2024
The film explores Ireland’s Magdalene laundries, Catholic-run institutions from the 18th to the late 20th century intended to reform those deemed “fallen women.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2024
There were groceries and herbal shops, clothing shops and laundries, halls that housed the brotherhoods or the district associations or the offices of family clans.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
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