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Synonyms

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of toilet

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Now, after making it around the moon—and taking care of some toilet troubles along the way—they’re heading home.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

After launching from Earth on 1 April , the four astronauts aboard the Artemis II mission's Orion capsule had some intermittent issues with their toilet.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026

If it’s anything like a normal set, it will be fun and there will be a toilet paper gun.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

The toilet problem was reported just hours after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

I ran down the hall and came back with a piece of toilet roll.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

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.