Can I use your powder room?

Can I use your powder room?

A request to use the restroom in one's house. (Traditionally, a "powder room" is a smaller room containing only a toilet and sink, not a tub or shower.) We had a long ride—can I use your powder room?See also: can, powder, use

Could I use your powder room?

 and Can I use your powder room?; May I use your powder room?; Where is your powder room?Euph. a polite way to ask to use the bathroom in someone's home. (Alludes to a woman powdering her nose. Sometimes used jocularly by men. See also powder one's nose.) Mary: Oh, Sally, could I use your powder room? Sally: Of course. It's just off the kitchen, on the left. Tom: Nice place you've got here. Uh, where is your powder room? Beth: At the top of the stairs.See also: could, powder, use