toilet

[ toi-lit ]

noun

1. a bathroom fixture consisting of a bowl, usually with a detachable, hinged seat and lid, and a device for flushing with water, used for defecation and urination.
2. a lavatory.
3. a bathroom.
4. toilet bowl.
5. a dressing room, especially one containing a bath.
6. the act or process of dressing or grooming oneself, including bathing and arranging the hair:

   to make one's toilet; busy at her toilet.

7. toilet set.
8. the dress or costume of a person; any particular costume:

   toilet of white silk.

9. Surgery. the cleansing of a part after childbirth or a wound after an operation.
10. Archaic. dressing table.

toilet

/ ˈtɔɪlɪt /

noun

1. another word for lavatory
2. old-fashioned.
   the act of dressing and preparing oneself

   to make one's toilet

3. old-fashioned.
   a dressing table or the articles used when making one's toilet
4. rare.
   costume
5. the cleansing of a wound, etc, after an operation or childbirth

Word History and Origins

Origin of toilet¹

1530–40; < French toilette small cloth, doily, dressing table, equivalent to toile toil ² + -ette -et

Word History and Origins

Origin of toilet¹

C16: from French toilette dress, from toile

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. go down / in the toilet, to become worthless or profitless; be doomed:

   The team's entire season went down the toilet.

Example Sentences

Mr MacKenzie wrestled the gun from him and Mrs MacKenzie hit their attacker with a "hefty" metal toilet roll holder.

From BBC

Detectives later discovered he had been living in a van kitted out with a bed, a carpet and a portable toilet.

From BBC

They’re a reminder that holidays don't have to be perfect to be meaningful, and that sometimes, it’s the turkeys in the toilet — or the ones chasing you through the streets — that make it unforgettable.

From Salon

Mr Suryavanshi, a farmer from Bihar who had migrated to Mumbai for employment, worked as a bouncer in a nightclub and at a public toilet, he told Indian Express newspaper.

From BBC

At 6:30 p.m, three hours after Porsha arrived at the hospital, she saw huge clots in the toilet.

From Salon

Related Words

• latrine
• lavatory
• outhouse
• restroom