Dictionary

tearoom en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈtiˌɹum/ (General-American)
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From tea + room. In reference to a lavatory, probably as a variant of t-room (“toilet room”).

Meanings

1. A café which serves tea, usually with light food.
   • At Rannoch, the platforms were rebuilt. Although the station tearoom couldn't be reached by rail during the closure, which started on October 5, it did help feed and sustain the workforce. 2019 November 6, “Network News”, in Rail, page 11:
2. (euphemistic, slang) A public lavatory.
3. (US, dated, euphemistic, slang) A public lavatory. ▸ A meeting place for gay men.
   • I had run into Grant in a tea-room—The busy main floor crapper—a few months earlier. 1975, chapter III, in Hard-Headed Dick, page 39:
   • The euphemistically named "tea room" has been used in sexual subcultures among men who have sex with men (MSM) to describe public sex environments, usually public toilets, where men meet other men in sexual interaction... The term itself might be outdated... 2014, A Cultural Encyclopedia of the Penis, page 216:
   • I'm deathly afraid of the tearooms though, John. Some of my best friends have been entrapped and busted by the fuzz. 1973, chapter II, in Deep Dick, page 21:
4. (Australia) A room in a workplace set aside for tea breaks, lunch breaks, snacking, etc; a break room.

Forms

Synonyms

lavabo · loo · withdraught · lav · jacks · cludgie · cottage · necessary · teahouse · bog · neddy · toilet room · vault · cottage · lats · washroom · dike · teahouse · gingerbread office · shitter · WC · jakes · withdraught · restroom · tearoom · khazi · urination station · netty · kocay · throne room · crapper · wardrobe · CR · toilet · carsey · siege · comfort room · beat · cloaca · lavatory · potty · toilet · closet of ease · office of ease · necessary room · johnny · potty · gingerbread office · karzy · jacques · amenities · urinal · latrine · necessary place · purging place · can · john · amenities · thunderbox · lavabo · teahouse · crapper · bogger · jacques · bathroom · House of Lords · lats · neddy · dunny · office of ease · necessary room · bathroom · necessary place · comfort room · vault · latrine · necessary · privy · closet · can · geography · netty · wardrobe · facilities · usual offices · purging place · lav · bog · office · brasco · khazi · carsey · johnny · karzy · necessarium · tearoom · facilities · cottage · six · washroom · urinal · small room · urination station · teahouse · smallest room · office · ladies and gentlemen · cottage · geography · shield · six · jacks · shield · toilet room · cloaca · thunderbox · restroom · john · closet · place · House of Lords · house of office · jakes · cludgie · necessarium · lavatory · closet of ease · brasco · siege · water closet · WC · small room · place · smallest room · closet of decency · privy · throne room · bogger · teahouse · lavvy · ladies and gentlemen · house of office · CR · shitter · lavvy · dike · usual offices · loo · closet of decency · water closet · dunny · kocay · beat