steamien.
/ˈstiːmi/, U.S. /ˈstimi/, Scottish English /ˈstimɪ/ Scottish.
A public wash-house.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > place where washing is done > public wash-house
wash-housec1806
steamie1926
1926 Glasgow Herald 19 Oct. 8 The perambulator holds much besides..the baby... In the poorer parts of the city the washing is conveyed to and from the ‘steamy’ thereon.
1935 Scottish Educ. Jrnl. 8 Mar. Suppl. p. vi/2 Modern sanitation has..caused the coining of ‘steamie’ (the public wash-house).
1958 3rd Statist. Acct. Scotl. V. iii. xvii. 560 Attendances at the ‘steamies’ in the year were just short of 1,800,000.
1969 Dumfries & Galloway Standard 29 Oct. 1 There was still a need for the ‘steamie’ as launderettes were not as cheap as the council maintained.
1978 Times 18 May 24/1 It was the talk of the steamie, so to speak. It was a topic of conversation at the company.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1926