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

Mindless chores like folding laundry or washing dishes are great for this. —Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 31 Mar. 2026

Today, Jake folds his own laundry. —Stephen Johnson, Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026

Robots gain dexterity Robotic manipulation has advanced rapidly with Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models, enabling machines to handle everyday tasks like sorting laundry or picking up objects. —Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 30 Mar. 2026

Patrons of the campground have access to showers, laundry, hiking trails and fishing options. —Sacbee.com, 26 Mar. 2026

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