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lessive

laundry, washing

noun leh-SEEV Rare

Origin: From Latin lixiva (lye water).

Also means

laundry detergent

Usage Note

Lessive covers both the act of doing laundry (faire la lessive) and the detergent product itself (une lessive en poudre, powder detergent). A related informal expression is être lessivé (to be exhausted, wiped out) — the idea of being wrung out like laundry.

Examples

"Je dois faire la lessive aujourd'hui."

Natural Translation

I need to do the laundry today.

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