laundry
Clothes, sheets, and towels that you wash or have just washed.
Clothes, sheets, towels, and similar washable items that are being washed, need to be washed, or have just been washed.
The job of washing clothes, usually at home.
The regular task or activity of washing clothes and other washable items, especially at home.
A shop or company that washes and dries clothes for people.
A business whose service is washing, drying, and often ironing clothes and other items for customers.
A room with a washing machine and usually a dryer, where you wash clothes.
A room in a house, apartment building, or hotel that contains machines or other equipment for washing and drying clothes.
- Base: laundry
- Plural: laundries, laundry
a load of laundry
1one batch of washing
The amount of clothes you wash at one time in a washing machine.
- I still have one more load of laundry to do.
- She ran three loads of laundry after the trip.
air dirty laundry
1talk about private problems publicly
To talk about private or embarrassing problems in public where many people can hear.
- She refused to air their dirty laundry on social media.
- Let’s not air our dirty laundry in front of the whole office.
do the laundry
1wash clothes at home
To wash clothes, sheets, and other clothes at home, usually as a regular job.
- I usually do the laundry on Saturday mornings.
- Whose turn is it to do the laundry this week?
- She did the laundry and then hung everything outside to dry.
fold the laundry
1fold clean washed clothes
To fold clean clothes, sheets, and towels after they are dry.
- I’ll fold the laundry if you put it away.
- She sat on the bed and folded the laundry.
hang out the laundry
1hang wet clothes to dry
To hang wet clothes on a line or rack so they can dry in the air.
- The sun is out, so I’ll hang out the laundry.
- She hung out the laundry before going to work.
laundry basket
1basket for dirty or clean clothes
A basket or box where you put dirty or clean clothes before or after washing.
- Please put your dirty clothes in the laundry basket.
- She carried a full laundry basket down to the washing machine.
- The clean towels are still in the laundry basket.
laundry day
1regular day for washing clothes
A day when you usually wash clothes.
- Sunday is laundry day at our house.
- I can’t go out tonight; it’s my laundry day.
laundry list
1very long list of things
A long list of many things, often small problems or requests.
- The report included a laundry list of complaints from employees.
- She gave the landlord a laundry list of things that needed fixing.
laundry room
1room with washing machines
A room in a house or building where you have a washing machine and usually a dryer.
- The laundry room is at the end of the hall.
- Our building’s laundry room is always busy on Sundays.
put away the laundry
1store clean laundry in place
To put clean, folded clothes into a closet or drawer.
- Don’t forget to put away the laundry before bed.
- He washed and dried his clothes but never put away the laundry.
sort the laundry
1separate clothes before washing
To put clothes into different groups, for example whites and colors, before washing them.
- She taught the kids how to sort the laundry by color.
- Always sort the laundry before you start the machine.
dirty laundry
1embarrassing or private secrets
Private or shameful things about a person or family that they don’t want other people to know.
- The book reveals a lot of the family’s dirty laundry.
- He didn’t want their dirty laundry discussed in public.
dirty laundry
2Private embarrassing matters
Personal problems that you do not want other people to know about.
- They aired their dirty laundry in public during the meeting.
- Don't wash your dirty laundry in public; keep family issues private.