Meaning & use
porta potty
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableinformal
A small portable toilet in a plastic cabin, placed temporarily at outdoor events and building sites where no regular restroom exists.
Grammar: Countable: a porta potty, a row of porta potties.
Patterns
- a porta potty at something
- rent a porta potty
There was a long line at the porta potty during the concert.
The builders rented a porta potty for the construction site.
Two porta potties stood near the finish line of the race.
Word forms
| plural | porta potties |
|---|
Common combinations
- rent a porta potty
- We had to rent a porta potty for the wedding in the field.
- line for the porta potty
- The line for the porta potty stretched across the grass.
- row of porta potties
- A row of porta potties stood behind the stage.
- clean porta potty
- It is rare to find a clean porta potty at a festival.
Synonyms and how they differ
- portable toilet
- Portable toilet is the neutral, more formal phrase, while porta potty is a casual, friendly term.
- portaloo
- Portaloo is the British equivalent and is also a brand name, so it sounds odd in American English.
- outhouse
- An outhouse is a fixed wooden hut over a pit, not a movable plastic unit, so it suggests something more rustic.
Word family
Commonly confused: porta potty or potty?
porta potty vs potty
Potty alone usually means a small toilet bowl for a young child, not a cabin at an outdoor event.
Practice
Where would you most likely find a porta potty?
Choose one answer.
Porta potties are temporary toilets set up where outdoor events happen. Hotels, hospitals and offices already have fixed restrooms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “porta potty”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.