laundermatn.
/ˈlɔːndəˌmat/ Chiefly North American.
A launderette. Also used figuratively.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > place where washing is done > a commercial laundry > launderette
Laundromat1943
launderette1949
laundermat1951
washeteria1959
washomat1959
coin-op1960
washerette1968
1951 Amer. Speech 26 166 There are..‘Laundromats’—often called ‘Laundermats’ and ‘Laundrymats’—open for public patronage.
1969 Newsweek 15 Dec. 90/3 Wall Street crime involves the use of secret foreign bank accounts..to provide a convenient ‘laundermat’ for organized crime in ‘bleaching’ illegal profits from narcotics and gambling.
1972 J. Metcalf Going down Slow vi. 112 We were drinking Cokes and reading the magazines in a laundermat.
1987 N.Y. Times 26 Apr. vii. 26/5 Nothing can make you consider running a laundermat more than training a barn full of slow horses.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1997; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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n.1951