hovel

[ huhv-uhl, hov- ]
See synonyms for hovel on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a small, very humble dwelling house; a wretched hut.

  2. any dirty, disorganized dwelling.

  1. an open shed, as for sheltering cattle or tools.

verb (used with object),hov·eled, hov·el·ing or (especially British) hov·elled, hov·el·ling.
  1. to shelter or lodge as in a hovel.

Origin of hovel

1
1375–1425; late Middle English hovell, of uncertain origin

Words Nearby hovel

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hovel in a sentence

  • Maria and Sebastian were brought up in a hovel with a mud floor, and only one room, shared with the donkey and the goat.

  • Kent, still unrecognized by Lear, endeavors to persuade him to take refuge in a hovel.

  • A woman was at the entrance to our hovel, looking down full at us.

British Dictionary definitions for hovel

hovel

/ (ˈhʌvəl, ˈhɒv-) /


noun
  1. a ramshackle dwelling place

  2. an open shed for livestock, carts, etc

  1. the conical building enclosing a kiln

verb-els, -elling or -elled or US -els, -eling or -eled
  1. to shelter or be sheltered in a hovel

Origin of hovel

1
C15: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012