loo

Noun (1)

loo (plural loos)

1. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK) A lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation.
   • I suppose it is unreal because we have been expecting it [sc. World War II] for so long now, and have known that it must be got over before we can go on with our lives. Like in the night when you want to go to the loo and it is miles away down a freezing cold passage and yet you know you have to go...1940, Nancy Mitford, chapter II, in Pigeon Pie, page 27
   • Ensure that the tents are well-sited and clean, rubbish bins empty, and that the loos have toilet paper.2006, Garth Thompson et al., The Guide′s Guide to Guiding, 3rd edition, page 160

   Synonyms:

   bathroom

2. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK) A toilet: a fixture used for urination and defecation.
   • The lack of running water in rural areas often makes Western-style loos hygienic disasters. Suddenly the noncontact squat toilet doesn′t look like such a bad option any more (as long as you roll up your trouser legs).2009, Katharina Kane, Lonely Planet: The Gambia and Senegal, page 275
   • Waterless urinals are a great way of keeping the guys out of the cubicle toilets, keeping the urine separated from the solid waste (when using composting loos) and reducing water consumption if you have flush loos.2010, Meegan Jones, Sustainable Event Management, page 206

   Synonyms:

   toilet

Interjection

1. A cry to urge on hunting dogs.
   • Edg. Pilicock sate on pelicocks hill, a lo lo lo.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

Verb (1)

loo (third-person singular simple present loos, present participle looing, simple past and past participle looed)

1. (dialectal, upon or infinitive) To urge on with cries of loo or (figuratively) by other shouting or outcry.
   • And therefore next uncouple either Hound [sc. George Monck and Prince Rupert],
     And loo them at two Hares ere one be found.1667, John Denham, Directions to a Painter, ll. 21 f

Noun (2)

loo (uncountable)

1. The penalty paid to the pool in lanterloo for breaking certain rules or failing to take a trick.
2. An act that prompts such a penalty.
3. A game of lanterloo.
4. (figuratively) Any group of people.

Verb (2)

loo (third-person singular simple present loos, present participle looing, simple past and past participle looed)

1. (transitive) To beat in the card game lanterloo.
   • He was seldom indeed without two good trumps, and therefore almost invariably loo'd those who stood.1847, Henry Cockton, The Love Match, page 232
2. To pay a penalty to the pool for breaking certain rules or failing to take a trick in lanterloo.
3. (dialectal, figuratively) To pay any penalty to any community.

Noun (3)

loo (plural loos)

1. (obsolete) A half-mask, particularly (historical) those velvet half-masks fashionable in the 17th century as a means of protecting women's complexion from the sun.
   • Loo Mask. An half Mask.a. 1685, Mary Evelyn, “The Fop-dictionary”, in Mundus Muliebris, page 18

Noun (4)

loo

1. (India) A hot dust-bearing wind found in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and the Punjab.
   • It was a pitchy black night, as stifling as a June night can be, and the loo, the red-hot wind from the westward, was booming among the tinder-dry trees and pretending that the rain was on its heels.1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Man Who Would Be King”, in The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales, page 78

Noun (5)

loo (plural loos)

1. (US, slang) A lieutenant.
   • I asked my loo to let me escort you in. I wanted a moment to thank you personally.” “There's no need.” “So you said before, but there is. And was. I'll take you in to Lieutenant Ricchio.”2012, J. D. Robb, New York to Dallas, Penguin, →ISBN, page 91

Proper noun capitalized: Loo

Loo (plural Loos)

1. A surname.