Meaning & use
a laundromat
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
A phrase meaning one place where you pay to use washing machines and dryers to clean your clothes.
Grammar: Used as a countable noun phrase: 'a laundromat' introduces one such place; for more than one, say 'laundromats' or 'two laundromats'.
Patterns
- go to a laundromat
- find a laundromat
- use a laundromat
- a laundromat near somewhere
I don't have a washing machine at home, so I go to a laundromat on Saturdays.
There is a laundromat on the corner of my street that stays open late.
She took her winter coats to a laundromat because they were too big for her machine.
phrasefixed phrase
A phrase used when mentioning one specific, already known place of this kind in a conversation or story.
Grammar: The article 'a' points to one example, not a particular one; if both speakers already know which place, use 'the laundromat' instead.
Patterns
- meet someone at a laundromat
- wait at a laundromat
- a laundromat that is open
We agreed to meet at a laundromat because it was the only place still open.
He waited at a laundromat while his clothes were drying.
I saw her at a laundromat downtown, folding towels.
Word forms
| plural | laundromats |
|---|
Common combinations
- go to a laundromat
- I usually go to a laundromat when my machine breaks down.
- a laundromat on the corner
- There's a laundromat on the corner that has free Wi-Fi.
- use a laundromat
- Students often use a laundromat near campus.
- a 24-hour laundromat
- We found a 24-hour laundromat and washed everything at midnight.
- a coin-operated laundromat
- The old coin-operated laundromat closed last year.
Synonyms and how they differ
- launderette
- The usual British word for the same place; use it in British English contexts.
- laundry
- Can mean a place where clothes are washed, but more often means the clothes themselves or the task of washing them.
- washhouse
- An old-fashioned word for a shared place for washing clothes; rarely used today.
Word family
Commonly confused: a laundromat or laundry? a laundromat or dry cleaner's?
a laundromat vs laundry
Laundry means the clothes to be washed or the process; a laundromat is the place with machines.
a laundromat vs dry cleaner's
A dry cleaner's cleans clothes with chemicals, not water; a laundromat uses water machines that you operate yourself.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses 'a laundromat' correctly.
Choose one answer.
Option 0 is correct because 'a laundromat' is a singular countable noun phrase and needs the article 'a'. Option 1 is missing the article, option 2 has two articles, and option 3 uses 'a' with a plural noun, which is wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a laundromat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.