chamber pot

A portable vessel used in a bedroom as a toilet.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

chamber pot

1. a vessel for urine, used in bedrooms

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cham′ber pot`

a portable container for urine and defecation, used in bedrooms.

[1560–70]

Chamber pot

A pail with a capacity of about two gallons, and a tight-fitting lid. The pot was kept in the bedroom at night and used to minimize the necessity of going to the outhouse.

Translations

Nachttopf

bacineta bacinilla pelela

pot de chambre

biliéjjeliedény

orinale vaso da notte

nokšir

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

These papers are delivered to a set of artists, very dexterous in finding out the mysterious meanings of words, syllables, and letters: for instance, they can discover a close stool, to signify a privy council; a flock of geese, a senate; a lame dog, an invader; the plague, a standing army; a buzzard, a prime minister; the gout, a high priest; a gibbet, a secretary of state; a chamber pot, a committee of grandees; a sieve, a court lady; a broom, a revolution; a mouse-trap, an employment; a bottomless pit, a treasury; a sink, a court; a cap and bells, a favourite; a broken reed, a court of justice; an empty tun, a general; a running sore, the administration.

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The Ancient Romans collected chamber pot "contributions." Okay, so far.

THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU DIDN'T KNOW

Senior, you remember how immediately you wake up in the morning your dear sweet mother will remove your supporter (not the Black Stars fan) and sit you on the chamber pot for you to take all the time you need to offload unwanted goods from your system.

Letter to Senior Opupulepu (56) - The Chamber-Pot and the Bow and Arrow Professional

His younger brother now helps him empty and clean his chamber pot, CNA said.

Taiwan man gave up higher education and marriage for younger brother

1864: Stephen Foster, US composer of minstrel songs and ballads (The Old Folks At Home, Beautiful Dreamer, etc) died after hitting his head on a chamber pot.

On this day..

My favourite has to be a child's chamber pot decorated with green Boo Boos holding gardening implements in a wheelbarrow being pushed by the ubiquitous chubby-cheeked boy gardener in red checked shirt and oversize blue trousers.

CHILDLIKE WONDERS; Whimsical illustrated children's pottery pieces are a delight, whatever your age

Left: A Shelley children's chamber pot by Mabel Lucie Attwell Right: A Shelley dessert plate by Mabel Lucie Attwell

CHILDLIKE WONDERS; Whimsical illustrated children's pottery pieces are a delight, whatever your age

Susie will retell the adventures that lie hidden within such words as lasagne (involving a chamber pot) and bugbear (a terrorising monster), and explain such oddities as the silent 'h' in ghost and the mysterious disappearance of kempt, gormful, and ruly (and yes, you really can be gruntled).

Countdown's Susie delves into words...

Years ago my mother bought a new hat and we all thought that it looked like a chamber pot on her head.

Playing the race card in the burka debate; LETTERS&NOSTALGIA

Years ago my mother bought a new hat and we thought that it looked like a chamber pot on her head.

We have a right to express an opinion

Comic postcard from 1920 featuring a chamber pot and, inset, an earth closet

Flushed with success; MERSEYSIDE TALES

The child had apparently used a portable chamber pot instead of going to the toilet.