Possessive nouns marked by "'s" are used colloquially in a number of situations in which the object of "possession" is not explicitly mentioned in the conversation. These forms are now often interpreted as plural, for example at the cleaners instead of the traditional form at the cleaner's (which is still the only form in some[1] dictionaries), to justify what is felt to be more modern spelling without an apostrophe, even in official usage. They were traditionally spelled with an apostrophe because this is grammatically correct, as can be seen with forms such as go to the doctor's, which cannot be reinterpreted as plural. Some of the most common are:
Such possessives are not strongly distinct in meaning from the plain form of the corresponding noun in meaning in most cases. "I went to the doctor" and "I went to the doctor's" often have exactly the same meaning. But "doctor" might be more general in that one might go to see the doctor at a hospital or a clinic, not necessarily the doctor's own facility.
These may be the name of the business or indicate the place of business of a particular person.
Note that in British usage, particularly colloquial speech, but sometimes in official writing as well, the apostrophe may be dropped, as in Barclays. See possessives in business names and s-form.
In other contexts the place referred to is more likely to be a place of residence.
The desire to avoid direct reference to toilets has led to many indirect euphemisms. Gender-separated public restrooms were popularized in the 19th century and initially referenced as the gentlemen's and ladies' lavatory- or toilet-rooms. They are now generally shortened to men's and ladies' rooms, but even the "room" is sometimes omitted:
The noun part of a medical condition (such as syndrome or disease) is sometimes dropped, as in Alzheimer's, Down's, Raynaud's.