water closet
Americannoun
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water closets
plural
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an enclosed room or compartment containing a toilet bowl fitted with a mechanism for flushing.
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Older Use. a privy or bathroom. WC, w.c.
noun
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a lavatory flushed by water
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a small room that has a lavatory
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of water closet
First recorded in 1745–55
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.
Paar left his program after NBC censors cut a water closet joke from his monologue, which became one of the biggest TV industry controversies of that era.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
Squish Factor: The bathroom has a European-style water closet, but it’s a bit larger than many others I’ve seen.
From Salon ● Feb. 22, 2025
Here are treasures from the Roman latrine to the Tudor garderobe to the Victorian water closet to the elegant “compactum.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2024
That bathroom has Carrara marble tile on the floor and walls, separate vanities, a soaking tub, a shower, a private water closet and radiant-heated floors.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 29, 2021
He’s so far out of this century he can’t go to the bathroom, he goes to the water closet.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
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.
