Meanings
present singular third person spends a penny · participle present spending a penny · participle past spent a penny · past spent a penny
- CommonwealthIrelandUKdatedeuphemisticTo use the toilet.
I put on a lick of paint, slip over and spend a penny in Costing…I should technically use the one in Records but I've told them, that lavatory seat is a death trap.
1982, Alan Bennett, “A Woman of No Importance”, in The Complete Talking Heads, Picador, published 2010, →ISBN, page 14
Synonyms & antonyms
verbeliminate urine
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From the act of putting a (pre-decimal) penny in the slot of a pay-toilet cubicle.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
spend a penny. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spend%20a%20penny
“spend a penny.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spend%20a%20penny. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spend a penny,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spend%20a%20penny.
Source: spend a penny on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.