toileting

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The act of using the toilet to urinate and defecate.

   Independent toileting is a milestone many toddlers reach around age three.

   The aide assisted several residents with toileting during the night shift.

   Note

   Care settings mostly use this as a mass noun: independent toileting, help with toileting. It can also be counted, with each visit treated as one event to record. Lynn Parker and William Whitehead, writing in 1982 on treating incontinence in children, track the frequency of "accidents or appropriate toiletings." The plural belongs to clinical record-keeping, where a single trip to the toilet is something to tally.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of toilet.

   Staff are toileting residents on a fixed schedule to prevent accidents.

   He was toileting himself unaided within a week of the operation.

   Note

   Three meanings of the verb toilet share this form. With another person as object, it means helping someone use the toilet, as when staff toilet residents or a parent toilets a child. With no object, or with oneself, it means using the toilet. A dated third meaning, dressing and grooming oneself, means older texts may point to the mirror rather than the bathroom. As a gerund it merges with the noun for the act.

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