laundry

American  

[lawn-dree, lahn-] / ˈlɔn dri, ˈlɑn- /

noun

laundries plural

1. articles of clothing, linens, etc., that have been or are to be washed.

2. a business establishment where clothes, linens, etc., are laundered.

3. a room or area, as in a home or apartment building, reserved for doing the family wash.

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laundry British  

/ ˈlɔːndrɪ /

noun

1. a place where clothes and linen are washed and ironed

2. the clothes or linen washed and ironed

3. the act of laundering

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laundry Idioms  

1. see wash one's dirty linen (laundry).

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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

Prosecutors said they found a phone hidden in a laundry basket and another in a box of sanitary pads.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 10, 2026

A pile of laundry doesn’t mean you’re behind.

From Salon • May 5, 2026

They have accommodated me with a hotel, but I don’t have access to basic amenities like laundry or a kitchen, and it’s been a significant amount of time.

From MarketWatch • May 5, 2026

The facility hosts 85 beds with the capacity to expand to 100 and includes a mix of dormitories, lavatories, a kitchen and laundry facilities.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

While Woo is only the size of a ruler, this one is the size of a laundry basket.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Related Words

• washing