chamber lye

noun

Urine, especially as used for domestic or agricultural purposes.

First used 16th c.
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Meanings

nounchamber lye (uncountable)

alternative chamber-lee

  1. archaicregionaluncountableUrine, especially as used for domestic or agricultural purposes.First known use 16th c.

    VVhy, you vvill allovv vs ne're a Iourden, and then we leake in your Chimney : and your Chamber-lye breeds Fleas like a Loach.

    c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 53, column 1
    1 more example

    [A] Hand, / So white, it made Æneas ſtand / Amaz'd to ſee't (for know that ſhe / Still waſht her hands in Chamber-Lee) […].

    1665, Charles Cotton, Scarronides

Origin

From chamber + lye. Compare early modern Dutch camerlooghe, obsolete German Kammerlauge.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

chamber lye. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chamber%20lye

MLA

“chamber lye.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chamber%20lye. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chamber lye,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chamber%20lye.

Source: chamber lye on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.