little girls' room

• little girl's room, little girls room

Originally from the need to find public lavatories for children, possibly by analogy with the somewhat earlier-attested little boys' room, but already in broader euphemistic use by its first known appearance in John O'Hara's BUtterfield 8.

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little girls' room (plural little girls' rooms)

1. (euphemistic, informal) Synonym of ladies' room: a public lavatory intended for use by women.
   • 1935, John O'Hara, BUtterfield 8, Ch. ix, page 279:

     The women's toilet (as distinguished from the ladies' room in a speakeasy, the johnny at school, the at a party in an apartment, and the wash-my-hands on a train) was clean enough.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: A room belonging to or used by little girls, particularly their bedroom.

• See Thesaurus:bathroom

• little boys' room

• women's room

• "little girl, n. and adj." in the Oxford English Dictionary (2014), Oxford: Oxford University Press.