house

¹

[ noun adjective hous; verb houz ]

noun

, plural hous·es [hou, -ziz].

1. a building in which people live; residence for human beings.

   Synonyms: abode, domicile

2. a household.
3. (often initial capital letter) a family, including ancestors and descendants:

   the great houses of France; the House of Hapsburg.

4. a building for any purpose:

   a house of worship.

5. a theater, concert hall, or auditorium:

   a vaudeville house.

6. the audience of a theater or the like.
7. a place of shelter for an animal, bird, etc. (usually used in combination):

   a doghouse.

8. the building in which a legislative or official deliberative body meets.
9. House, the body itself, especially of a bicameral legislature:

   the House of Representatives.

10. a quorum of such a body.
11. (often initial capital letter) a commercial establishment; business firm:

    the House of Rothschild; a publishing house.

12. a gambling casino.
13. the management of a commercial establishment or of a gambling casino:

    rules of the house.

14. an advisory or deliberative group, especially in church or college affairs.
15. a college in an English-type university.
16. a residential hall in a college or school; dormitory.
17. the members or residents of any such residential hall.
18. Informal. a brothel; whorehouse.
19. house music ( def ).
20. British. a variety of lotto or bingo played with paper and pencil, especially by soldiers as a gambling game.
21. Also called parish. Curling. the area enclosed by a circle 12 or 14 feet (3.7 or 4.2 meters) in diameter at each end of the rink, having the tee in the center.
22. Nautical. any enclosed shelter above the weather deck of a vessel:

    bridge house; deck house.

23. Astrology. one of the 12 divisions of the celestial sphere, numbered counterclockwise from the point of the eastern horizon.

verb (used with object)

, housed [houzd], hous·ing [hou, -zing].

1. to put or receive into a house, dwelling, or living quarters:

   More than 200 students were housed in the dormitory.

2. to give shelter to; harbor; lodge:

   to house flood victims in schools.

3. to provide with a place to work, study, or the like:

   This building houses our executive staff.

4. to provide storage space for; be a receptacle for or repository of:

   The library houses 600,000 books.

5. to remove from exposure; put in a safe place.
6. Nautical.
   1. to stow securely.
   2. to lower (an upper mast) and make secure, as alongside the lower mast.
   3. to heave (an anchor) home.
7. Carpentry.
   1. to fit the end or edge of (a board or the like) into a notch, hole, or groove.
   2. to form (a joint) between two pieces of wood by fitting the end or edge of one into a dado of the other.

verb (used without object)

, housed [houzd], hous·ing [hou, -zing].

1. to take shelter; dwell.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or noting a house.
2. for or suitable for a house:

   house paint.

3. served by a restaurant as its customary brand:

   the house wine.

4. of or being a product made by or for a specific retailer and often sold under the store's own label:

   You'll save money on the radio if you buy the house brand.

House

²

[ hous ]

noun

1. Edward Man·dell [man, -dl], Colonel House, 1858–1938, U.S. diplomat.
2. Son [suhn], Eddie James House, Jr., 1902–88, U.S. blues singer and guitarist.

House

¹

/ haʊs /

noun

1. See House of Commons
2. informal.
   the Stock Exchange

house

²

noun

1. 1. a building used as a home; dwelling
   2. ( as modifier )

      house dog

2. the people present in a house, esp its usual occupants
3. 1. a building used for some specific purpose
   2. ( in combination )

      a schoolhouse

4. often capital a family line including ancestors and relatives, esp a noble one

   the House of York

5. 1. a commercial company; firm

      a publishing house

   2. ( as modifier )

      a house journal

      house style

6. an official deliberative or legislative body, such as one chamber of a bicameral legislature
7. a quorum in such a body (esp in the phrase make a house )
8. a dwelling for a religious community
9. astrology any of the 12 divisions of the zodiac See also planet
10. 1. any of several divisions, esp residential, of a large school
    2. ( as modifier )

       house spirit

11. 1. a hotel, restaurant, bar, inn, club, etc, or the management of such an establishment
    2. ( as modifier )

       house rules

    3. ( in combination )

       steakhouse

12. modifier (of wine) sold unnamed by a restaurant, at a lower price than wines specified on the wine list

    the house red

13. the audience in a theatre or cinema
14. an informal word for brothel
15. a hall in which an official deliberative or legislative body meets
16. See full house
17. curling the 12-foot target circle around the tee
18. nautical any structure or shelter on the weather deck of a vessel
19. bring the house down
    theatre to win great applause
20. house and home
    an emphatic form of home
21. keep open house
    to be always ready to provide hospitality
22. like a house on fire informal.
    very well, quickly, or intensely
23. on the house
    (usually of drinks) paid for by the management of the hotel, bar, etc
24. put one's house in order
    to settle or organize one's affairs
25. safe as houses
    very secure

verb

1. tr to provide with or serve as accommodation
2. to give or receive shelter or lodging
3. tr to contain or cover, esp in order to protect
4. tr to fit (a piece of wood) into a mortise, joint, etc
5. tr nautical
   1. to secure or stow
   2. to secure (a topmast)
   3. to secure and stow (an anchor)

Derived Forms

• ˈhouseless, adjective

Other Words From

• sub·house noun
• well-housed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of house¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun h(o)us, hous(s)e, Old English hūs; cognate with Dutch huis, Low German huus, Old Norse hūs, German Haus, Gothic -hūs (in gudhūs “temple”); the verb is derivative of the noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of house¹

Old English hūs; related to Old High German hūs, Gothic gudhūs temple, Old Norse hūs house

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. bring down the house, to call forth vigorous applause from an audience; be highly successful:

   The children's performances brought down the house.

2. dress the house, Theater.
   1. to fill a theater with many people admitted on free passes; paper the house.
   2. to arrange or space the seating of patrons in such a way as to make an audience appear larger or a theater or nightclub more crowded than it actually is.
3. keep house, to maintain a home; manage a household.
4. like a house on fire / afire, very quickly; with energy or enthusiasm:

   The new product took off like a house on fire.

5. on the house, as a gift from the management; free:

   Tonight the drinks are on the house.

6. put / set one's house in order,
   1. to settle one's affairs.
   2. to improve one's behavior or correct one's faults:

      It is easy to criticize others, but it would be better to put one's own house in order first.

7. clean house. clean ( def 48 ).

More idioms and phrases containing house

In addition to the idiom beginning with house , also see boardinghouse reach ; bring down the house ; clean house ; eat someone out of house and home ; get on (like a house afire) ; keep house ; on the house ; open house ; people who live in glass houses ; put one's house in order ; safe as houses .

Synonym Study

House, dwelling, residence, home are terms applied to a place to live in. Dwelling is now chiefly poetic, or used in legal or technical contexts, as in a lease or in the phrase multiple dwelling. Residence is characteristic of formal usage and often implies size and elegance of structure and surroundings: the private residence of the king. These two terms and house have always had reference to the structure to be lived in. Home has recently taken on this meaning and become practically equivalent to house, the new meaning tending to crowd out the older connotations of family ties and domestic comfort. hotel.

Example Sentences

In his first White House tenure, he went through five Defense secretaries in four years.

From Los Angeles Times

Gaetz, a Florida congressman who resigned from the House hours after Trump announced that he would nominate him to run the Justice Department, orchestrated McCarthy’s ouster as speaker last year.

From Los Angeles Times

He said the president-elect had learned from his earlier experience in the White House and would hit the ground running in part thanks to the work of Howard Lutnick, the chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, on the transition.

From Los Angeles Times

When people feel economically pinched, they often try to clean house.

From Slate

The way Musk and Ramaswamy have been talking, they clearly have the idea that they’ll be cleaning house from Day 1 onward—just like Musk did when he bought Twitter in late 2022, brought his friends and cronies on as consultants for cost cuts, ousted the company’s executives, and went on to lay off thousands more staffers.

From Slate

Related Words

• apartment
• box
• building
• condo
• condominium
• dwelling
• home
• mansion
• residence
• shack