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 temporary jail will need to include infrastructure and services: intake, health care, food service and commissary, visitation, exercise space, laundry and staff areas. —Chris Higgins, Kansas City Star, 25 July 2025

The monthlies here are $1,034 and get you your own storage and bike spot, plus in-building laundry. —Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 22 July 2025

Down in the cellar, there’s a powder room for freshening up and 930 square feet for both storage and laundry. —Tori Latham, Robb Report, 21 July 2025

Typically, very young children are the ones who are most excited to mimic their parents and lend a hand with laundry. —Christine Carrig, The Atlantic, 21 July 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