First recorded in 1945–50; formerly a trademark
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A launderette owner was so moved she is now offering to do washing for free.
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2022
The thing about London is that you can have a launderette and then look above it and it’s got this beautiful Regency architecture.
From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2021
A decade after he moved to California his parents followed and opened a launderette.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 19, 2016
“Who?” said Maria Jimenez, 51, folding clothes in a launderette.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 9, 2015
We were soaked and filthy, desperately needed a launderette, clean, dry clothes, a square meal, and a Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
The Austin American-Statesman reports that Austin-based restaurants Launderette and Fresa's earlier this week announced plans to ask patrons to show they had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine before entering.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2021
After settling in Austin, he worked at acclaimed restaurants like La Condesa, Uchiko and Launderette before opening Suerte with the restaurant’s owner, Sam Hellman-Mass, 33.
From New York Times ● Dec. 22, 2018
On film, he earned a Bafta nomination for playing Thatcherite Pakistani businessman in 1985's My Beautiful Launderette, and was nominated for the Genie awards - the Canadian Oscars - for 1992 Canadian film Masala.
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2015
Daniel Day-Lewis’s breakthrough role was in My Beautiful Launderette; Chiwetel Ejiofor’s career was given a major boost by Dirty Pretty Things.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 21, 2015
Example: Bert S. Good, who has four stores in Manhattan, is netting $800 a week, and recently opened a store in Switzerland, the first foreign Launderette.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Our aim is to keep charges significantly below nearby high street launderettes, and that's why pricing will vary across the country."
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026
At the time, P&O said a "wide range of approved protocols" had been put in place, including closing on-board launderettes and preventing passengers from serving themselves at the buffet.
From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2024
The Federation of Small Businesses has warned of the impact on everything from fish-and-chip shops and launderettes.
From New York Times ● Sep. 3, 2022
Soldiers in uniform were patrolling in the rain nearby, as if this were somehow Afghanistan, walking past urban launderettes and bakeries.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 20, 2015
Since then, Akin has added eight launderettes of his own and sold 56 Duds 'N Suds franchises in 27 states.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
