a building in which people live; residence for human beings.
a household.
(often initial capital letter) a family, including ancestors and descendants.
the great houses of France; the House of Hapsburg.
a building for any purpose.
a house of worship.
a theater, concert hall, or auditorium.
a vaudeville house.
the audience of a theater or the like.
a place of shelter for an animal, bird, etc. (usually used in combination).
a doghouse.
the building in which a legislative or official deliberative body meets.
House, the body itself, especially of a bicameral legislature.
the House of Representatives.
a quorum of such a body.
(often initial capital letter) a commercial establishment; business firm.
the House of Rothschild; a publishing house.
a gambling casino.
the management of a commercial establishment or of a gambling casino.
rules of the house.
an advisory or deliberative group, especially in church or college affairs.
a college in an English-type university.
a residential hall in a college or school; dormitory.
the members or residents of any such residential hall.
Informal. a brothel; whorehouse.
British. a variety of lotto or bingo played with paper and pencil, especially by soldiers as a gambling game.
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.
Nautical. any enclosed shelter above the weather deck of a vessel.
bridge house; deck house.
Astrology. one of the 12 divisions of the celestial sphere, numbered counterclockwise from the point of the eastern horizon.
to put or receive into a house, dwelling, or living quarters.
More than 200 students were housed in the dormitory.
to give shelter to; harbor; lodge.
to house flood victims in schools.
to provide with a place to work, study, or the like.
This building houses our executive staff.
to provide storage space for; be a receptacle for or repository of.
The library houses 600,000 books.
to remove from exposure; put in a safe place.
Nautical.
to stow securely.
to lower (an upper mast) and make secure, as alongside the lower mast.
to heave (an anchor) home.
Carpentry.
to fit the end or edge of (a board or the like) into a notch, hole, or groove.
to form (a joint) between two pieces of wood by fitting the end or edge of one into a dado of the other.
of, relating to, or noting a house.
for or suitable for a house.
house paint.
served by a restaurant as its customary brand.
the house wine.
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.
clean house. clean.
on the house, as a gift from the management; free.
Tonight the drinks are on the house.
put / set one's house in order,
to settle one's affairs.
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.
keep house, to maintain a home; manage a household.
dress the house,
to fill a theater with many people admitted on free passes; paper the house.
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.
bring down the house, to call forth vigorous applause from an audience; be highly successful.
The children's performances brought down the house.
like a house on fire / afire, very quickly; with energy or enthusiasm.
The new product took off like a house on fire.
Edward Mandell Colonel House, 1858–1938, U.S. diplomat.
Son Eddie James House, Jr., 1902–88, U.S. blues singer and guitarist.
a building used as a home; dwelling
( as modifier )
house dog
the people present in a house, esp its usual occupants
a building used for some specific purpose
( in combination )
a schoolhouse
(often capital) a family line including ancestors and relatives, esp a noble one
the House of York
a commercial company; firm
a publishing house
( as modifier )
house style
a house journal
an official deliberative or legislative body, such as one chamber of a bicameral legislature
a quorum in such a body (esp in the phrase make a house )
a dwelling for a religious community
astrology any of the 12 divisions of the zodiac See also planet
any of several divisions, esp residential, of a large school
( as modifier )
house spirit
a hotel, restaurant, bar, inn, club, etc, or the management of such an establishment
( as modifier )
house rules
( in combination )
steakhouse
(modifier) (of wine) sold unnamed by a restaurant, at a lower price than wines specified on the wine list
the house red
the audience in a theatre or cinema
an informal word for brothel
a hall in which an official deliberative or legislative body meets
See full house
curling the 12-foot target circle around the tee
nautical any structure or shelter on the weather deck of a vessel
theatre to win great applause
an emphatic form of home
to be always ready to provide hospitality
informal very well, quickly, or intensely
(usually of drinks) paid for by the management of the hotel, bar, etc
to settle or organize one's affairs
very secure
(tr) to provide with or serve as accommodation
to give or receive shelter or lodging
(tr) to contain or cover, esp in order to protect
(tr) to fit (a piece of wood) into a mortise, joint, etc
(tr) nautical
to secure or stow
to secure (a topmast)
to secure and stow (an anchor)
See House of Commons
informal the Stock Exchange
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. See also hotel.
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
A house is a building where you might live alone or it could be a multi-family house that you share with other families. If you live in an apartment building, that's "home," but it's not a house. You can also use house to refer to groups of people. The House of Tudor is an English royal family. Governing bodies can be houses: the Houses of Parliament, in Britain, or the House of Representatives, in the US. In a theater, the house is the audience. When house is a verb, meaning to provide a house for, as in “where are you going to house all your guests?” — it’s pronounced with a -z-, rather than an -s-.
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The 54-year-old, who has lived in Lege-Cap-Ferret for 30 years, fled his home after watching his neighbour's wooden house catch fire.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
The bigger question is whether Burnham is likely to follow through with some of the more expensive policies he's previously signalled, including reforming social care or expanding council house building.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
He died decades later at what’s now St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, the same institution that would later house would-be Ronald Reagan assassin John Hinckley, Jr.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
In L.A. and elsewhere that meant a lot of artists in the front and back of the house working for incredibly low wages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Three seconds later I’m racing down the path behind my house.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Senate Majority Leader John Thune isn’t concealing his disinterest in what the House is offering, saying that he wants to focus on government funding instead.
From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2026
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday afternoon, Trump continued to threaten further attacks while saying that negotiations were continuing.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Dodgers veteran infielder Miguel Rojas and reliever Will Klein visited with senators and representatives on Capitol Hill before the team’s White House visit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
The White House was convinced by the FDA’s findings and gave the agency the green light to make them public.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
It was pointed at a yellow Packard parked in front of the Lugo House.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
"We're looking at 35C-plus heat in houses that were not designed for it, with people who are not as able to regulate their temperature, and can't necessarily afford to just fit an AC," Windram said.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Because many parcels remain undeveloped in the farther reaches of Lehigh Acres, streets often contain an unorthodox mix of sleek new homes, 1970s-style ranch houses and empty, overgrown lots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
"Police came banging on the doors of all the houses," he said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
The deal was made through its Enilive subsidiary that houses its mobility businesses and is co-owned with U.S private equity company KKR, which has a 30% stake.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
The sun was just beginning to set, and the street outside was primitive, nothing more than packed dirt between poorly built wooden houses.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Truelove’s mental illness, his half-sister said, made it difficult for him to perform basic tasks, such as getting a job, paying bills or staying housed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Ironically, Time Warner’s corporate assets, which have been bought and sold several times since, are now largely housed at Warner Bros.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
The Bayeux Tapestry, which is now housed in the British Museum, is in a "wonderful state", the French Culture minister has told the BBC, having viewed it on site.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Roads were closed and residents evacuated as the inferno spread, with about 150 people housed in a cultural centre.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Normally, the second floor housed twenty patients that needed long-term care on straw mats covered with blankets.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
Citywide, Inside Safe has moved more than 6,000 people into hotels, motels and other types of interim housing since Bass took office in December 2022.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
But he found the city inhospitable to the homeless, she said, and was unable to secure housing or any services.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
The researchers found rent expenses tend to increase after age 80 or 85, potentially because retirees sell their homes and move into rental housing or enter assisted-living or long-term-care facilities.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Now, they are wading back in with a focus on big growth areas like multifamily housing and industrial real estate, which is being fueled by a boom in big data-center projects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The housing shortage continued to grow, compelling more families to push into new neighborhoods.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
