pissoir

American  

[pee-swar] / piˈswar /

noun

French.

• pissoirs
  plural

1. a street urinal for public use, especially one enclosed by a low wall, screen, or the like.

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pissoir British  

/ piswar, ˈpiːswɑː /

noun

1. a public urinal, usu. enclosed by a wall or screen

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pissoirs
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of pissoir

French, from pisser to urinate

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pissoir pissoirs

So, in praise of the public pissoir, here are some of London's toilet-based tales you didn't know you'd been waiting for.

From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2022

To call a pissoir Fountain was to urinate on high culture – and that could not be a neutral gesture in 1917.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 8, 2018

In the French revue, "La Plume de Ma Tante," a sketch took place in a "pissoir," a word Shawn refused to allow Tynan to use in the magazine.

From Newsweek ● Feb. 20, 2015

My favourite is the pissoir in Great Ayton which marked an important moment in the independence of local government.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 9, 2012

Outside was a pissoir and stacked crates of empties.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

He has launched the last great prank, a plague of pissoirs – and over the next few years, we'll find ourselves drowning in Duchamp urinals, causing their value to go through the floor.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 4, 2010

Last week, as the Paris municipal council debated their continuance, the pissoirs got an eloquent defense from Councilor Rene Fayssat.

From Time Magazine Archive

For five years, a lanky sociologist from Fort Worth named William McLean prowled the boulevards, side streets, courtyards, back alleys and pissoirs of Paris, camera at the ready.

From Time Magazine Archive

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