public convenience

American  

[puhb-lik kuhn-veen-yuhns] / ˈpʌb lɪk kənˈvin yəns /

noun

Chiefly British.

1. a restroom, especially at a large public place, as at a railroad station.

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public convenience British  

noun

1. a public lavatory, esp one in a public place

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Etymology

Origin of public convenience

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had allowed the company’s project to move forward in 2018 by granting PennEast a so-called certificate of public convenience and necessity, but lawsuits followed.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 29, 2021

The public convenience had not been used for years and the previous owner had bought it from Hackney council, Ellis said.

From The Guardian • Aug. 18, 2017

The board decided that the pipeline met the requirements of Iowa law requiring it to “promote the public convenience and necessity.”

From Washington Times • Mar. 10, 2016

According to Google Trends, the expression "public convenience" is not often used these days, and then only in the UK and US.

From BBC • Jul. 2, 2015

It is not probable, however, that the Government would refuse to build any line that would clearly subserve public, convenience, the conduct of the postal service negativing such a supposition....

From The Railroad Question A historical and practical treatise on railroads, and remedies for their abuses by Larrabee, William