laundry

noun

laun·​dry ˈlȯn-drē 

ˈlän-

plural laundries

1

a

: a room for doing the family wash

b

: a commercial laundering establishment

2

: clothes or linens that have been or are to be laundered

Examples of laundry in a Sentence

There's a pile of dirty laundry in the laundry basket.

The patients' sheets are sent regularly to the hospital laundry.

Recent Examples on the Web

Unlike some larger cruise ships, Rotterdam does not offer a self-service laundry facility, though services, including dry cleaning, can be arranged. —David Swanson, Travel + Leisure, 14 Dec. 2024

While no-fee rentals tend to be more expensive than rentals with broker fees, our analysis indicates that the difference in asking rents is predominantly driven by location, size, and the presence of popular amenities such as in-unit laundry and doormen. —Clio Chang, Curbed, 10 Dec. 2024

Krystina, a 37-year-old marketing manager, lives in California, and recently realized some people must be doing their laundry in a very different way to herself. —Mark R. Weaver, Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2024

At the turn of the century, the average middle-class matriarch spent 44 hours per week on food preparation and nearly 12 hours on laundry. —Tiana Lowe Doescher, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 29 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1577, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing laundry

• air one's dirty laundry
• dirty laundry
• do the/one's laundry
• laundry list
• load of laundry

Kids Definition

laundry

noun

laun·​dry ˈlȯn-drē 

ˈlän-

plural laundries

1

: clothes or linens that have been or are to be laundered

2

: a place where laundering is done

Etymology

from an obsolete word launder (noun) "one who washes clothes," derived from early French lavandier (or lavandiere) "a man (or woman) who washes clothes," from Latin lavandus "needing to be washed," from lavare "to wash" — related to lavatory, lavish, lotion