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

When the party is in full swing and Ariana is busy doing her laundry, Riley calls her mom, who gives her a supportive pep talk about the incident on the bus. —Tom Smyth, Vulture, 18 June 2025

For her accommodation, Kay typically gets an Airbnb or a rental as opposed to a hotel due to being able to cook, do laundry, and have more space. —Mariah Maddox, Parents, 16 June 2025

That soap was used for everything from scrubbing the wood floors to washing the family’s laundry to bathing us children in a big tin tub in the kitchen. —Bea L. Hines, Miami Herald, 13 June 2025

This is especially helpful on the way back home when most or all of your laundry is dirty. —Kat Merck, Wired News, 13 June 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