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men's room

men's room

78 1.2
A room with toilets and sinks for men to use
  • noun
  • /mɛnz ruːm/
  • US
translation icon : baño para hombres
  • I switched with a guy in the men's room.

Examples

  • After we eat, I go to the men's room to wash my hands.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • They're in the men's room.

  • I must go to the men's room, Bill

  • Can I use your men's room, please?

  • I think they use the men's room next door to the Burger King.

  • Mister, welcome to the men's room.

  • Lester went to the men's room and looked at himself in the mirror.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • As he stepped into the men's room, he glanced at his watch.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • I materialized in a stall in the men's room at the Santa Monica Municipal Airport.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • I need to find the nearest men's room before the game starts.

Synonyms

gentlemen's room
vsmen's room
  • Archaic
1 3.2

A room with toilets for men

uses a neutral label rather than a polite formal phrase
men's
vsmen's room
  • US
1.0

A public toilet for men

is a neutral term indicating the facility is restricted to male users

Surface Forms

men's room singular
men's rooms plural

Morphology

men's + room

The meaning 'a toilet for men' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'men's' (relating to men) with 'room' (an indoor space). This is a regular noun phrase composition common across languages and follows standard English modification patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Men's room comes from old signs that showed a separate men's room in public places — literally a room where men could wash or use the toilet. So it now simply means 'a public toilet for use by men'.