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# privy

«privy» in Mova's school dictionary: **An outdoor toilet, a small hut over a hole in the ground** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a privy, privies); adjective (privy to, formal)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (old) An outdoor toilet, a small hut over a hole in the ground. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/privy/#m1)

2) (formal) «Privy to» means allowed to know a secret: «I wasn't privy to their plans.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/privy/#m2)

3) (UK, formal) In titles: Privy Council, a group that advises the king or queen. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/privy/#m3)

4) Privy chambers are the private rooms of a king or queen. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/privy/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In history lessons and old stories a privy was the toilet at the bottom of the garden. In news, «privy to» means sharing secret knowledge. Phrases: privy to, Privy Council.

### examples

- In the old days the privy was outside the house. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/privy/#x1)
- The farm had a wooden privy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/privy/#x2)
- Only the captain was privy to the secret map. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/privy/#x3)
- I wasn't privy to their plan. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/privy/#x4)
- The Privy Council met at the palace. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/privy/#x5)
- Nobody wanted to walk to the privy in the dark. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/privy/#x6)
- Saouy, who witnessed the agitation of the people from the windows of the king's privy chambers, called to the executioner to strike at once. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/privy/#x7)

### note

Plural: privies. Old-fashioned word; today: toilet, loo (UK), bathroom or restroom (US). «Privy to» is formal.

### In the corpora

- ["The privy" is an old word for an outdoor toilet.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/8-toilets-and-getting-older/14/)
- [He that is crushed or maimed in his privy parts shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/DEU.615/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «privy» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/privy/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.