to use the bathroom
77
1.1
- phrasal verb
- /juːz ðə ˈbæθruːm/
- US
:
ir al baño
- Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom before we continue our trip.
Do you typically wash your hands after you use the bathroom in your own home?
- Do you typically wash your hands after you use the bathroom in your own home?
- And at each break, I would always eat a little bit, use the bathroom.
- And if in a situation, I said, oh, actually, Andrew, can I use the bathroom?
- So Nancy Mace goes all in on this Sarah McBride because she doesn't want her to use the bathroom.
Examples
-
I just have to use the bathroom and then I'll leave.
Fiction book (1999) -
Hey I'm going to use the bathroom first.
-
So when you guys use the bathroom, you close the door.
-
I think I need to use the bathroom.
-
I need to use the bathroom.
-
I just have to use the bathroom.
-
Excuse me a minute, I have to use the bathroom.
-
Can I go use the bathroom?
-
I have to use the bathroom.
-
If you need to use the bathroom, it's right behind my place.
Fiction book (1996)
Synonyms
278
1.0
To use the toilet in a polite or indirect way
22
1.0
Go to the bathroom to pee or poo
11
7.5
To pee or poo, usually in a toilet
1
1.9
To go to a room with a toilet to pee or poo
1
8.0
To go to the toilet to pee or poo
To go to the toilet to pee or poo
Antonyms
How Polite
- US
77
1.1
- US
278
1.0
- UK
1
8.0
- Baby Talk
2
3.0
- Offensive
52
9.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to go to the toilet' is directly derivable from combining 'use' (to employ) with 'bathroom' (room for personal hygiene); a B1 learner who knows both constituents will infer that it means going into the bathroom for hygienic/toilet purposes. Although it functions as a polite/euphemistic phrasing for urination/defecation, the composition is straightforward and parallels common expressions in many languages, so it is readily understandable.
Etymology
Use the bathroom came from a polite habit of not saying direct words for private needs. People would say they were going into the bathroom to be private, so today use the bathroom means 'to go to the toilet'.