to relieve oneself
1
7.5
- phrasal verb
- Formal
- I think he went out to relieve himself or something.
Examples
-
I have to walk to Timbuktu just to relieve myself.
-
I'll just go relieve myself.
-
Um, she had to step inside to relieve herself.
-
Gentlemen, I must relieve myself.
-
Then go relieve yourself over there.
-
I'm going to relieve myself.
-
After breakfast, his uncle got up, walked stiffly to the edge of the meadow, and relieved himself.
Fiction book (1999) -
The woman went behind a clump of bushes by the side of the cave to relieve herself.
Fiction book (1992) -
Chuck stirs, gets up, staggers over to a palm tree to relieve himself.
Fiction book (2000) -
Um, she had to step inside to relieve oneself.
Synonyms
448
2.6
To let out the body's yellow liquid
252
1.0
To use the toilet in a polite or indirect way
175
8.3
To pass urine in rude speech
82
1.1
To go to the toilet to pee or poo
64
3.3
To pass urine
55
9.9
To go to the toilet to poo
51
9.9
To pee in a rude way
41
9.3
To pee or pass urine from your body
39
8.1
To pass urine from the body, often said to children
35
9.9
To poop solid waste out of the body
16
7.0
To pass poo out of the body through the opening at the bottom
11
9.9
To poop, said as a rude word
10
9.7
To pee when you need to go to the toilet
3
9.5
To pee when you need the toilet
2
9.2
To pee, often used about children or animals
1
1.9
To go to a room with a toilet to pee or poo
1
7.4
To move waste out of the body, usually from the bowels
1
9.9
To pass solid waste from your body
1
9.9
To poop and get rid of solid waste from your body
1
9.1
To pass urine from the body
1
7.6
To let urine come out of your body
1
9.9
To pass urine from the body
1
9.9
To go to the toilet to pee
1
8.4
To go to the toilet to pee or poo
To pee or poop
Antonyms
How Polite
- Formal
1
7.5
- US
82
1.1
- Informal
448
2.6
- NSFW
41
9.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
Combining 'relieve' (reduce discomfort) with the reflexive 'oneself' yields a polite notion of removing a need or discomfort, which can plausibly point to bodily functions. Because the specific sense 'to urinate or defecate' is euphemistic and not explicitly stated, a B1 learner who knows the words but hasn't seen the phrase may not reliably infer that precise meaning.
Etymology
Relieve oneself comes from a simple image: to relieve oneself means to remove pressure from your body and let it empty when you need to pee or poo. That's why today it is a polite way to say 'to urinate or defecate'.