Meaning & use
loo
Last updated
UK/luː/
US/luː/
Meaning
nouncountableBritishinformal
A toilet, or the room that contains one.
Grammar: Countable: the loo; two loos.
Patterns
- go to the loo
- use the loo
Excuse me, where is the loo?
The kids needed the loo twice during the car trip.
There's a queue for the loo at the interval.
Word forms
| plural | loos |
|---|
Common combinations
- go to the loo
- I need to go to the loo.
- loo roll
- We ran out of loo roll.
- loo break
- The coach stopped for a loo break.
- public loo
- The park has a public loo near the gate.
- clean the loo
- It is his turn to clean the loo.
Synonyms and how they differ
- toilet
- Toilet is the plain, neutral word and is acceptable everywhere, whereas loo is casual and mostly British.
- restroom
- Restroom is the polite American word and sounds odd in British speech.
- bathroom
- Bathroom is a polite American word, while loo is relaxed and British.
- lavatory
- Lavatory is more formal and old-fashioned than loo.
Word family
- loo roll noun
- toilet paper
- loos noun
- more than one toilet
- water closet noun
- the older full name for a flush toilet
Commonly confused: loo or lieu?
loo vs lieu
Lieu, in 'in lieu of', means instead of, and only sounds like loo in some pronunciations.
Practice
A British person asking 'Where's the loo?' wants to find
Choose one answer.
Loo is a British informal word for toilet. The other places are unrelated.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “loo”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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