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

The beads dissolve in water and add a fresh scent to your laundry. —Maria Sabella, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Jan. 2025

Residents say monkeys also sneak into their kitchens or run away with their laundry, drying on the flat rooftops typical of this part of India. —Omkar Khandekar, NPR, 5 Jan. 2025

Fashion trends are constantly evolving, and one man doing his wife's laundry is having a hard time keeping up. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 3 Jan. 2025

Soup itself can’t cure jet lag or do my laundry for me, but cooking soup can briefly alleviate whatever’s weighing me down—and eating one certainly doesn’t hurt. —Kendra Vaculin, Bon Appétit, 1 Jan. 2025

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