toilet powder
- noun
- Archaic
:
polvo de talco
- She applied some toilet powder after her shower.
Examples
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After her bath, she dusted her skin with a light layer of toilet powder.
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The delicate scent of lavender lingered, thanks to the toilet powder she used each morning.
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He bought a new container of toilet powder for his travels.
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He prefers using toilet powder instead of cream.
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After her bath, she dusted her skin with a light layer of toilet powder.
-
The delicate scent of lavender lingered, thanks to the toilet powder she used each morning.
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He bought a new container of toilet powder for his travels.
Synonyms
7
1.0
A soft, fine powder put on a baby's skin to keep it dry and comfortable
7
5.0
A fine white powder used to keep skin dry and comfortable
5
2.7
A fine powder used on the skin to absorb moisture and prevent rubbing
A powder you sprinkle on your skin after a bath to keep skin dry and smell nice
A fine scented powder you put on the skin after bathing to soak up moisture and prevent irritation
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from 'toilet' in its grooming sense (act of washing/dressing) combined with 'powder' (a fine dry substance): together they naturally denote a cosmetic/personal-care powder used after bathing. This compositional logic is common cross-linguistically (cf. French 'eau de toilette'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituent meanings should be able to infer the MWE, although learners who only know 'toilet' as 'restroom' might initially be confused.
Etymology
The phrase toilet powder may come from the old word toilet, from French 'toilette', which meant a cloth for washing and getting ready. People would use fine powder during washing to dry and scent the skin, so today toilet powder means the scented body powder you put on after a bath.