toilet

American  

[toi-lit] / ˈtɔɪ lɪt /

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.

---

idioms

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

   The team's entire season went down the toilet.

toilet British  

/ 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

---

Etymology

Origin of toilet

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

Example Sentences

Cobolli was struggling physically from the start with a stomach issue, running off court at the end of the opening set for a toilet break.

From BBC

Loosening regulations helped boost private imports and allowed supermarket shelves to be stocked after chronic shortages of everything from corn flour to toilet paper to cancer medications.

From The Wall Street Journal

During the interview, she told the detective that she had gone to the toilets and skipped a lesson which was something that she had never done before.

From BBC

One tribe from North Dakota is helping members get tribal IDs in a room piled with cases of bottled water, toilet paper, packaged food and pots of warm soup.

From The Wall Street Journal

If ignored, he’d drag a ribbon of toilet paper across the bathroom and shred it.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• latrine
• lavatory
• outhouse
• restroom