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

The show, in its pre-digital days, was regularly bombarded with mail, fan letters, complaints, and sketch and job pitches, scribbled on everything from scratch pads to toilet paper.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

While the deal may relieve concerns about Kimberly-Clark’s overexposure to products like tissues and toilet paper, the new breadth comes with risks.

Read more on Barron's

Other witnesses have spoken of seeing a man with a large knife and passengers hiding in the toilets, The Times reported.

Read more on BBC

Some passengers hid inside the toilets while others swarmed towards the front of the train.

Read more on BBC

A working gold toilet seems a much better use of bullion than, say, making it into bars and then just having it sit, useless, in vaults in Fort Knox.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• latrine 
• lavatory 
• outhouse 
• restroom