# Donald

/ˈdɑnəɫd/ (US)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/donald
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. a male name

noun · CEFR A1

a common first name for a man, originally from Scotland.

For teachers: a male given name of Scottish Gaelic origin, meaning 'world-ruler'.

- Donald and his brother went to the park to play football.
- The historian noted that the name Donald was particularly prevalent in the Scottish Highlands during the eighteenth century.

### 2. to go to the toilet

noun · CEFR C2 · British English · Slang · Informal

a very informal way to say you need to go to the toilet to empty your bowels.

For teachers: an instance of Cockney rhyming slang where 'Donald Trump' rhymes with 'dump'.

- He said he needed to go for a Donald before the long car journey.
- The use of 'Donald' as rhyming slang has seen a resurgence in certain British dialects, though it remains strictly restricted to highly informal registers.

Usage: Usually used with the verb 'to have' or 'to go for a'.

## Examples

- The street performer looked for a donald to trick.
- In the old stories of the city's underworld, a donald was the perfect target for a simple card game scam.
- While the term has largely vanished from the modern lexicon, nineteenth-century slang dictionaries define a donald as a gullible individual ripe for exploitation by more cynical urban residents.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.