sanitary napkin
3
1.6
- noun
- /ˈsænɪˌtɛri ˈnæpkɪn/
- US
:
compresa
- The vending machine in the restroom dispensed sanitary napkins for women in need.
- sanitary napkins and tampons
Examples
-
During the health class, the teacher explained how to properly use a sanitary napkin for menstrual hygiene.
-
I put a dime in the sanitary napkin machine for her.
Fiction book (1999) -
It's a commercial for a woman's sanitary napkin.
-
Do you have the courage to check and see... if there are enough sanitary napkins in the dispenser?
-
Compounds very much like it are also used in disposable diapers and sanitary napkins.
Academic text (2002) -
She strolls down Aisle 6, heading towards her preferred brand of sanitary napkins.
Blog text (20) -
Don't flush items like paper towels, sanitary napkins, diapers, or cotton balls, because these items don't break down and may cause clogging issues.
Blog text (18) -
She always carries a few sanitary napkins in her bag just in case of an unexpected period.
Synonyms
3
4.1
A thin soft pad a woman wears during her period to absorb blood
1
2.1
A disposable pad women wear inside their underwear to absorb period blood
A soft piece of material that absorbs blood during a period
How Absorbent
- US
3
1.6
1
2.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
sanitary + napkin
The components 'sanitary' (hygienic) and 'napkin' (a small cloth or paper used for wiping) combine to signal a hygienic pad, so learners can infer it is an absorbent hygiene item. However, the specific conventionalized use for menstrual protection and the cultural/medical nuance (disposable menstrual pad) may not be fully predictable for a B1 learner from the parts alone, making it only partially transparent.
Etymology
Sanitary napkin comes from the words sanitary, meaning 'for health' or 'clean', and napkin, a small cloth used to wipe. Long ago women used cloth napkins to catch blood, and later companies sold single-use 'sanitary' pads for a woman's 'period', so the name now means a disposable pad that absorbs menstrual flow.