Definition of "lavabo" [lavabo]

• The ceremonial washing of the hands and recitation from the Psalms by the celebrant before the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. (noun)
• A washbowl that is attached to a wall and filled from a water tank fastened above. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "And the "lavabo," as it is here called, a spacious room with an ostentatiously noisy rush of water which may be heard afar and awakens one at night."
• "Right below these words are: "lavabo" and "lavage", which reminds me of"
• "Other items necessary for the celebration of holy Mass, such as water, wine, paten, bells and lavabo are place near the altar on a separate, or credence, table."