Laundry Definition & Meaning

American

British

Idioms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms laundry American [lawn-dree, lahn-] / ˈlɔn dri, ˈlɑn- /

noun

plural

laundries

1. articles of clothing, linens, etc., that have been or are to be washed.

2. a business establishment where clothes, linens, etc., are laundered.

3. a room or area, as in a home or apartment building, reserved for doing the family wash.

laundry British / ˈlɔːndrɪ /

noun

1. a place where clothes and linen are washed and ironed

2. the clothes or linen washed and ironed

3. the act of laundering

"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 laundry Idioms

1. see wash one's dirty linen (laundry).

Etymology

Origin of laundry

1350–1400; Middle English lavandrie < Middle French lavanderie. See launder, -y 3

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.

Researchers use it to improve proteins such as enzymes and antibodies that play important roles in medicine, industrial manufacturing, and even everyday products like laundry detergents.

From Science Daily

The messages on chocolate bars were how the family would send notes to Godoy in prison, and this was how he would reply – by writing on dirty laundry taken out of the jail.

From BBC

I could drop them by the Academy laundry on my way home, but I would have to hustle.

From Literature

For one date, Song cooked Culkin a steak dinner at home—and on another occasion, she actually taught him how to do his laundry.

From MarketWatch

Investors have been worried about a laundry list of issues, including regulatory changes, economic prospects and whether there’s simply much more room to convert cash-based payments over to cards.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• washing

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.