cloaksn.
/kləʊks/, U.S. /kloʊks/ Chiefly British.
A cloakroom in a public or private building; frequently in recent use, one containing a toilet or toilets; also (euphemistic) a toilet or toilets. Also attributive (appositive) as cloaks cupboard, cloaks lobby. Cf. cloakroom n. 1, cloakroom n. 2.Originally and still frequently in commercial contexts.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of use > [noun] > cloakroom
cloakroom1823
shawl-room1838
locker room1870
check-room1900
cloaks1902
checking-room1910
1881 Artist 1 May 144 (plan of house) N. Front Entrance. O. Vestibule. P. Recess for cloaks, etc. R. Hall.]
1902 Building News 5 Sept. 327/2 On the first floor are four classrooms, intended gymnasium, dressing-room, cloaks, &c.
1908 M. E. Macartney Recent Eng. Domest. Archit. 102 (plan of house) 1. Drawing-room. 2. Lavatory... 8. Morning-room. 9. Cloaks. 10. Hall.
1913 Construction Oct. 395/2 The arrangement of the lavatory and cloaks lobby, which block what would otherwise be a through corridor from the main hall.
1957 M. Sharp Eye of Love ii. 19 I got held up in the Cloaks.
a1967 J. Orton Between us Girls (1998) 42 We were shown into a cloaks cupboard a little bigger than the Albert Hall.
1968 ‘P. Hobson’ Titty's Dead v. 63 Daphne's always first out of breakfast and straight into the girls' downstairs cloaks. No one would have noticed only she took a book and read in there.
2015 Nottingham Post (Nexis) 16 Apr. 17 (advt.) Porch, hall, lounge, sitting room, dining room, kitchen/breakfast room, downstairs cloaks.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1902