jakes

J8A1K5E1S1
/d͡ʒeɪks/

noun

A place to urinate and defecate: an outhouse or lavatory.

Less commonScrabble 16

Meanings

jakes1

nounjakes (usually uncountable, plural jakeses)

plural jakeses · alternative jacks · alternative jacques · alternative jakes's · alternative jakeses

  1. IrelanduncountableusuallyA place to urinate and defecate: an outhouse or lavatory.

    My lord, if you’ll give me leave, I will tread this unbolted villain into mortar and daub the walls of a jakes with him.

    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, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]
    2 more examples

    […] Whereas the Truth-finder, having raked out that Jakes his own Mind, and being there capable of tracing no Ray of Divinity, nor any thing virtuous, or good, or lovely, or loving, very fairly, honestly, and logically concludes, that no such things exist in the whole Creation.

    1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 1, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VI, page 269

    And the treasures of the floor and walls went raw into the jakeses from my brush and dustpan: sludges, geodes, hair, dead insects and arachnidae, a rubber glove and tainted paper waste, a mouse's skull and tail, a set of used plasters, […]

    1994, Derek Beaven, Newton’s Niece, Fourth Estate, published 1999, page 8

    Synonyms: outhouse, bathroom, latrine, necessarium, toilet, toilet room, urinal, water closet

noun

alternative jacks · alternative jacques · alternative jakes's · alternative jakeses

  1. pluralplural of jake
verb

alternative jacks · alternative jacques · alternative jakes's · alternative jakeses

  1. indicativepresentsingularthird personthird-person singular simple present indicative of jake

Jakes2

proper nounJakes (plural Jakeses)

plural Jakeses

Jakes3

proper noun
  1. pluralplural of Jake

Synonyms & antonyms

More synonyms by meaning

nouna small outbuilding with a bench having holes through which a user can defecate

Similar
outhouseprivyearth-closet

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

jakes · noun, noun, verb

  1. Middle EnglishJake
  2. Englishjakes

From Middle English Jake (variant of “Jack”) or Jakke (variant of “Jacques” and “Jack”). Use as a place to urinate and defecate first attested in the form jacques. Compare terms such as US slang Cousin John and Quincy, used as euphemistic personifications the speaker was "visiting".

Full word history & related roots →

Jakes · proper noun

From Jake + -s (patronymic suffix).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with jakes

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

jakes. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jakes

MLA

“jakes.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jakes. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “jakes,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jakes.

Source: jakes on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.