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laundry basket

laundry basket

7 1.0
A basket for holding clothes that need washing or have just been washed
  • noun
  • /ˈlɔːndri ˈbæskɪt/
translation icon : cesta de ropa
  • After doing the laundry, I placed the freshly washed shirts back in the laundry basket.
  • a full laundry basket
  • a plastic laundry basket
  • a wicker laundry basket

And you can even get laundry baskets that have a basketball net on them as well.

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Examples

  • Frida and Jennifer are each holding laundry baskets full of laundry.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I retrieved my laundry basket and headed toward the basement steps.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • And we have a laundry basket, which is pretty standard.

  • Did you drop a glass in the laundry basket at our party?

  • Look under the laundry basket.

  • We currently switched things around in our house, and my laundry basket is in a new place.

    Blog text (6)
  • What's this gunk on the bottom of the laundry basket?

    Fiction book (2001)
  • "I checked my dresser drawers again and rooted through the laundry basket.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • We stood frozen, shielding the laundry baskets from her view, attempting to prolong the inevitable.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Jack's flat - bedroom - night. Marion, undressed, pulls the old nightgown from the laundry basket.

    Fiction book (1998)

Synonyms

hamper
vslaundry basket
31 1.9

A large basket with a lid used to carry or store clothes

is focused on holding clothes needing washing or recently washed only
clothes hamper
vslaundry basket
  • US
1 1.4

A basket that holds dirty clothes before washing

is for clothes both before and immediately after washing
clothes basket
vslaundry basket
1 1.3

A large container with handles for holding dirty clothes before washing

is used for both clothes needing washing and those just washed
voider
vslaundry basket
  • Archaic
9.9

A basket for holding dirty or wet clothes before they are washed

also serves for clothes that have just been washed and are wet

How Big

laundry cart
  • US
1 1.1
clothes hamper
  • US
1 1.4
laundry basket
7 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

laundry + basket

The meaning 'a container for holding clothes to be washed or just washed' is directly and compositionally derived from 'laundry' (clothes awaiting or just washed) + 'basket' (a container). This straightforward noun-noun compound follows common cross-linguistic compounding patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Laundry basket The phrase laundry basket comes from the simple picture of a woven basket used to carry dirty laundry to the place where people washed clothes. That's why it means 'a container for clothes that need to be washed or have just been washed'.