laundry

[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.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English lavandrie < Middle French lavanderie. See launder, -y3
Examples from the web for laundry
  • There is a possible fortune in store for somebody who will start a laundry for flannels.
  • The professor of molecular biology and genetics was at home, folding laundry.
  • Around the corner from the market, a small dry-cleaning firm lets customers pay for laundry using their phones.
  • Large three bedroom two full bath being painted and cleaned located in a beautiful elevator laundry building.
  • Result, you make it a point to do laundry and run the dish washer outside the peak times.
  • On one hand, she notes, the report fails to provide any ranking for its laundry list of laudable aims.
  • laundry detergent is one household product that can be made with biodegradable ingredients.
  • Every parent needs a break from time to time-a few minutes to prepare dinner, do the laundry or quickly check e-mail.
  • Proponents of hanging laundry argue they should not be forbidden from saving on energy bills.
  • Eco-friendly laundry products are free of phosphates that can harm the environment.
British Dictionary definitions for laundry

laundry

/ˈlɔːndrɪ/
noun (pl) -dries
1.
a place where clothes and linen are washed and ironed
2.
the clothes or linen washed and ironed
3.
the act of laundering
Word Origin
C16: changed from C14 lavendry; see launder
Word Origin and History for laundry
n.

late 14c., "place for washing;" mid-15c. "act of washing," from Old French lavanderie, from Latin lavandaria, plural of lavandarium "things to be washed," from lavare "to wash" (see lave). As a verb, from 1880. Laundry list in figurative sense is from 1958.

Slang definitions & phrases for laundry

laundry

noun
  1. A bank or other place used for legitimizing illegal or dubious money (1960s+)
  2. A board of faculty members that passes on flying cadets (WWII Air Forces)
Related Terms

hang out the laundry

[second sense from the fact that some cadets were washed out, ''failed,'' by such a board]


Idioms and Phrases with laundry

laundry

see: wash one's dirty linen (laundry)