restroom

US/ˈɹɛstˌɹum/

nounB1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechneutral

Other forms: restrooms

Restroom is the American word for a public toilet. The sign beside the door in an airport, a diner, a shopping mall.

It is a polite substitute, and America keeps several in rotation: restroom, bathroom, washroom, the ladies' room. British English says toilet or loo and finds restroom faintly odd, since nobody goes there to rest. If you are travelling in the United States, asking for the toilet will be understood but marks you instantly as a visitor. The word means the room itself, not the fixture inside it.

Definitions of restroom

1nounrestroomA public toilet, in American English.B1
“The restroom is at the end of the corridor.”
synonyms: washroom, lavatory

Where it comes from

From rest + room, from an earlier sense of break room.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 14 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

restroom in the wild

Urinals are often provided in male public restrooms in Western countries (less so in Muslim countries where washing after urinating is more common).
Urinal
In less secure applications such as corridor and restroom lighting controls in public buildings, tamper-resistant switches with a simpler key mechanism may be used instead.
Key switch
A restroom attendant, also called bathroom attendant, lavatory attendant, toilet attendant, or washroom attendant, is a cleaner for a public toilet.
Restroom attendant
If there is a fee to use the restroom, it is collected by the attendant if there is no coin-operated turnstile or door.
Restroom attendant
Amenities included picnic tables, a restroom, a nature trail, and interpretive signs about the Applegate Trail.
Washburne State Wayside

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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