House
Pronunciation
- (noun)
- enPR: hous, IPA: /haÊŠs/
- (verb)
- enPR: houz, IPA: /haÊŠz/
- Rhymes: -aÊŠs, -aÊŠz
- Homophones: how's verb
Origin
From Middle English hous, hus, from Old English hūs ("dwelling, shelter, house"), from Proto-Germanic *hūsą (compare West Frisian hûs, Dutch huis, Low German Huus, German Haus, Danish hus), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keus-, from *(s)keu- 'to hide'. More at hose.
Noun
house
(plural houses)- Human habitation
- (abode) A structure serving as an abode of human beings. from 9th c.
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 1, Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path .... It twisted and turned,...and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. And, back of the lawn, was a big, old-fashioned house, with piazzas stretching in front of it, and all blazing with lights. 'Twas the house I'd seen the roof of from the beach.
- This is my house and my family's ancestral home.
- An animal's shelter or den, or the shell of an animal such as a snail, used for protection. from 10th c.
- A building used by people for something other than a main residence (typically with qualifying word). from 10th c.The former carriage house had been made over into a guest house.
- A public house, an inn, or the management of such. from 10th c.the House of the Rising SunOne more, sir, then I'll have to stop serving you – rules of the house, I'm afraid.
- (the theatre itself) A place of public entertainment, especially (without qualifying word) a theatre; also the audience for a live theatrical or similar performance. from 10th c.
- 1905, w, w:The Case of Miss Elliott Chapter 2, Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophises all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels.
- After her swan-song, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
- A brothel. from 10th c.
- (business) A place of business; a company or organisation. from 10th c.
- (politics) The building where a deliberative assembly meets; hence, the assembly itself, forming a component of a (national or state) legislature. from 10th c.The petition was so ridiculous that the house rejected it after minimal debate.
- A printer's or publishing company. from 16th c.A small publishing house would have a contract with an independent fulfillment house.
- A place of gambling; a casino. from 18th c.
- A grouping of schoolchildren for the purposes of competition in sports and other activities. from 19th c.I was a member of Spenser house when I was at school.
- Extended senses
- (literary) Somewhere something metaphorically resides; a place of rest or repose. from 9th c.
- 1598, Ben Jonson, Every Man in his Humor:Like a pestilence, it doth infect
The houses of the brain. - 1815, Walter Scott, The Lord of the Isles:Such hate was his, when his last breath
Renounced the peaceful house of death .... - The people who live in the same house; a household. from 9th c.
- Bible, Acts x. 2one that feared God with all his house
- A dynasty, a familial descendance; a family with its ancestors and descendants, especially a royal or noble one. from 10th c.The current Queen is from the House of Windsor.
- (astrology) One of the twelve divisions of an astrological chart. from 14th c.
- 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society 2012, page 313:Since there was a limited number of planets, houses and signs of the zodiac, the astrologers tended to reduce human potentialities to a set of fixed types and to postulate only a limited number of possible variations.
- (chess, now rare) A square on a chessboard, regarded as the proper place of a piece. from 16th c.
- (curling) The four concentric circles where points are scored on the ice. from 19th c.
- Lotto; bingo. from 20th c.
- (genre of music) House music.
- (uncountable, US) An aggregate of characteristics of a house.
- 1990, Feb 24, Goin' South Affordable is trendy in these suburbs, In comparison with the western suburbs, we felt we could get a lot more house for the money.
- 2005, Jan 16, DOWNSIZERS LIVE IT UP - BABY BOOMERS WANT SMALLER HOMES WITH LOTS OF..., There's just a huge number of people who are close to retirement and feel they have too much house on too much property.
- 2007, Nov 6, When Will the Slump End?, Those homeowners who bought too much house, or borrowed against inflated values are now going to be liable for their own poor decisions
- (uncountable) A children's game in which the players pretend to be members of a household.As the babysitter, Emma always acted as the mother whenever the kids demanded to play house.
Derived terms
Related terms
Full definition of house
Verb
- (transitive) To keep within a structure or container.The car is housed in the garage.
- EvelynHouse your choicest carnations, or rather set them under a penthouse.
- (transitive) To admit to residence; to harbor/harbour.
- Sir Philip SidneyPalladius wished him to house all the Helots.
- To take shelter or lodging; to abide; to lodge.
- ShakespeareYou shall not house with me.
- (transitive, astrology) To dwell within one of the twelve astrological houses.
- DrydenWhere Saturn houses.
- (transitive) To contain or cover mechanical parts.
- (obsolete) To drive to a shelter.
- (obsolete) To deposit and cover, as in the grave.
- (nautical) To stow in a safe place; to take down and make safe.to house the upper spars