1533 J. Heywood Play of Wether sig. D^v Excepte the sonne shyne that our clothes may dry we can do ryght nought in our laundry.

1533 J. Heywood Play of Wether sig. Diiii Then came there a nother that lyueth by laundry.

?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xxii. 135 Where Trojan wives and their fair daughters had Laundry for their fine linen weeds.

1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §394 Chalkie Water is too fretting As it appeareth in Laundry of Clothes, which wear out apace, if you use such Water.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) i. ii. 4 There dwels one Mistris Quickly; which is in the manner of his Nurse; or his dry-Nurse; or his Cooke; or his Laundry . View more context for this quotation

1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 23/2 Laundry Bag; size 14 × 25 inches; made from heavy figured drapery sateen, with white cotton drawing cord and tassels.

1971 P. Purser Holy Father's Navy xi. 60 I shovelled my suit into a laundry bag to send to the cleaners.

a1668 W. Davenant Play-house to be Let in Wks. (1673) 77 We'll make 'em bring Their Laundry Battledores.

1899 Westm. Gaz. 8 Aug. 6/1 Large supplies of..laundry blue.

1880 L. S. Floyer Plain Hints Examiners Needlework 33 Run a tape through the holes, and it will make a ‘Laundry Blue-bag’.

1585 in W. Greenwell Wills & Inventories Registry Durham (1860) II. 108 To euerie of the maides of the landerie house 2s. 6d.

1958 Spectator 4 July 24/2 Mr. Wardle makes a point of dissociating himself from the laundry-list species of biography-making.

1968 Time 10 May 22 The at-large ballot is a bewildering laundry list of 75 names.

1972 Fortune Jan. 3/1 As the archetype of U.S. corporations, General Motors is charged by its critics with primary responsibility for a laundry list of social ills, including air pollution, congestion in the cities, ugliness in the countryside, [etc.].

1972 Times Lit. Suppl. 24 Mar. 333/1 A huge panorama of names and dates, as dull as a laundry-list.

1975 Radio Times 16 Jan. 5/4 Everybody knows..that there are exceptions to this laundry-list of woes, and that the author can be brilliantly served.

1632 B. Jonson Magn. Lady iv. i I will..cry it through..every office of the laundry-maids.

1855 E. C. Gaskell North & South I. ix. 113 She was no longer Peggy the laundry-maid, but Margaret Hale the lady.

1708 Chamberlayne's Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia (1743) ii. iii. List xlix. 162 The Matron is to take care of the Men's Linnen..& deliver it to the Laundryman once a week.

1883 R. L. Stevenson Silverado Squatters i. i. 14 Here are the blacksmith's,..and Kong Sam Kee, the Chinese laundryman's.

1924 G. S. Dougherty Criminal as Human Being 278 An important factor in this work is a collection of laundry marks.

1962 ‘J. Bell’ Crime in Our Time ii. i. 22 The..police..overlooked a conspicuous laundry mark, 599, on some of the clothing.

1972 L. Lamb Pict. Frame xviii. 155 Laundry mark on shirt and maker's name on hand-made shoes.

1967 J. Redgate Killing Season (1968) ii. vi. 102 There's a new laundry-room just behind the kitchen.

1971 Country Life 23 Dec. (Suppl.) 11/1 Unique single-story residence..kitchen, laundry room.

1937 Discovery Feb. 49/1 The Great Geyser had practically ceased activity, and could not be stimulated to life, even with a hundred-weight of laundry soap—the usual stimulant.

1958 M. Dickens Man Overboard xii. 190 A homely smell compounded of many things, like roasting meat and leather and dogs and laundry soap.

1952 M. Allingham Tiger in Smoke xv. 217 He and two other boys stole a laundry van.

1972 Guardian 5 Oct. 28/2 The laundry van in which Sapper Stewart died.

1863 F. A. Kemble Jrnl. Resid. Georgian Plantation 24 The eldest son of our laundry-woman.

1838 H. Martineau Retrospect of Western Trav. II. 185 The 10th was Sunday... There was no laundry-work going on.

1891 Daily News 15 Dec. 6/2 There was possibility of a good deal of family laundry work arising.

1930 Times Educ. Suppl. 16 Aug. 360/2 The teacher must hold full diploma in Cookery, Laundrywork and Housewifery.

1963 F. F. Laidler Gloss. Terms Home Econ. Educ. 52 Laundrywork, the washing and finishing of soiled fabrics.

1894 E. Banks Campaigns Curiosity 196 She did not consider me up to the mark for a laundry-worker.

1906 Westm. Gaz. 21 June 8/1 The attention of laundry-workers is drawn to this.

1975 Times 15 Feb. 3/3 Greater London Council..suggested that the post of..‘laundry woman’ should become ‘laundry worker’.

1965 New Scientist 11 Nov. 406/3 Computer bureaux already exist which give the ‘laundry’ service to customers whose data is taken in by hand for processing.

1974 National Rev. (U.S.) 18 Jan. 100/2 It will resort to the Mexican laundries and to other roundabout routes, preferably within the law.

1978 N.Y. Times Mag. 26 Feb. 22/4 His Canadian and Bahamian companies provided a convenient ‘laundry’ for illegitimate mob money looking for a way to reach legitimate usage within the United States.

1982 Times 2 Aug. 3/3 The union-funded Labour Research Department..accuses British United Industrialists..of acting as a ‘laundry’ for companies unhappy about contributing directly to Conservative funds.

1991 Metalworking Production Sept. 31 This complete metal laundry can meet customers requirements with a comprehensive range of decorative and industrial paint finishes.

1880 American Mail Order Fashions (1961) 14 The wires can be taken out..so that the entire bustle can be laundried with the greatest care.

1919 W. Deeping Second Youth xxvi. 224 No, he can't ask you to laundry his man's clothes.

1957 B. Evans & C. Evans Dict. Contemp. Amer. Usage 268/2 The verb is to launder, not to laundry. Clothes are laundered, not laundried.

1892 Daily News 15 Sept. 5/5 The great Chinese national industry is laundrying.

1901 D. B. W. Sladen In Sicily I. 152 The ditch in which they did their laundrying.

1904 Daily Chron. 26 May 6/2 The assistants have to provide and pay for the laundrying of their aprons.