to ease oneself
- phrasal verb
- /iz wʌnˈsɛlf/
- And after that, I went to the toilet to ease myself.
- then ease yourself
Examples
-
He asked to be excused so he could ease himself before the meeting.
-
At the park, she found a quiet spot to ease herself away from the crowd.
-
After a long car ride, he stopped at a rest area to ease himself.
Synonyms
To pee or poo, usually in a toilet
To go to the toilet to pee or poo
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'ease' (to reduce discomfort) combined with the reflexive 'oneself' suggests making one's own discomfort less, so there is a plausible link to bodily relief. However the specific sense 'to urinate or defecate' is a euphemistic, culture-specific extension and is not fully predictable from the constituent meanings alone, so learners who know the words may not reliably infer the toilet-related meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Ease oneself comes from the simple image of making the body more comfortable: ease means to relieve and oneself means yourself. So the gentle image became a polite way to say 'to urinate or defecate'.