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toilet roll

toilet roll

2 1.0
A roll of soft paper for cleaning your bottom after using the toilet
  • noun
  • /ˈtɔɪlɪt roʊl/
  • UK
translation icon : papel higiénico
  • We're out of toilet roll.

Speaking of taking a shit, stockpiling toilet roll.

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Examples

  • No holder for the toilet roll.

  • We're always running out of toilet roll.

  • I suppose you have green toilet roll to boot.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • And I bought a little basket for the toilet rolls as well as kind of a place to store those.

  • I love that you've got toilet roll next to you on this.

  • I've never even bought toilet roll!

  • And in all that time... you've never... once put the toilet roll back on the dispenser!

  • So, I rush out, my window's been smashed, there's glass everywhere and all my toilet rolls have been stolen.

  • The toilet down the corridor is shared with other tenants; it 's unspeakable, what can you do? You take the toilet roll in with you and bring it back after.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • We're always running out of toilet roll.

Synonyms

toilet paper
vstoilet roll
100 1.0

Soft thin paper for cleaning your bottom after you use the toilet

is the same paper presented in a single rolled form
toilet tissue
vstoilet roll
  • US
4 1.0

Soft thin paper used to clean yourself after using the toilet

is the same paper usually sold as a continuous roll
bathroom tissue
vstoilet roll
  • US
1 1.0

Soft paper used to clean yourself after using the toilet

is the same paper but commonly referred to in its rolled form

Surface Forms

toilet roll singular
toilet rolls plural

Morphology

toilet + roll

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'toilet' (the bathroom/toilet fixture) with 'roll' (an item wound into a cylinder): it denotes the roll of paper used in the toilet. This noun+noun compositional pattern indicating an object associated with a place or purpose is cross-linguistically common and would be predictable to a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

Toilet roll names a simple picture: a roll of soft paper kept next to the 'toilet' (bathroom). The part roll shows the paper is wrapped around a tube and the part toilet links it to cleaning yourself, so the phrase means a roll of paper for cleaning after using the 'toilet'.