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house
1[ noun adjective hous; verb houz ]
noun
- 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.
verb (used with object)
- 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.
verb (used without object)
- to take shelter; dwell.
adjective
- 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.
House
2[ hous ]
noun
- Edward Man·dell [man, -dl], Colonel House, 1858–1938, U.S. diplomat.
- Son [suhn], Eddie James House, Jr., 1902–88, U.S. blues singer and guitarist.
House
1/ haʊs /
noun
- See House of Commons
- informal.the Stock Exchange
house
2noun
- 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 )
a house journal
house style
- 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
- bring the house downtheatre to win great applause
- house and homean emphatic form of home
- keep open houseto be always ready to provide hospitality
- like a house on fire informal.very well, quickly, or intensely
- on the house(usually of drinks) paid for by the management of the hotel, bar, etc
- put one's house in orderto settle or organize one's affairs
- safe as housesvery secure
verb
- 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)
Derived Forms
- ˈhouseless, adjective
Other Words From
- sub·house noun
- well-housed adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of house1
Word History and Origins
Origin of house1
Idioms and Phrases
- bring down the house, to call forth vigorous applause from an audience; be highly successful:
The children's performances brought down the house.
- dress the house, Theater.
- 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.
- keep house, to maintain a home; manage a household.
- like a house on fire / afire, very quickly; with energy or enthusiasm:
The new product took off like a house on fire.
- 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.
- 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
Example Sentences
In the Central Valley, the Antelope Valley and Orange County, a trio of Democratic congressional challengers unseated Republican incumbents as the party narrowed the GOP’s razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.
The victories of Adam Gray, George Whitesides and Derek Tran — and a few Democratic House pickups elsewhere — were a silver lining for their party in a year that Republicans won both houses of Congress, Vice President Kamala Harris lost to Donald Trump in all seven swing states, and California voters backed away from progressive ballot measures and criminal justice reform favored by many Democrats.
All four victories were a vindication for California Democrats, who flipped seven House seats in the 2018 “blue wave,” only to lose four seats two years later and again in 2022.
Republicans won California’s other two battleground House races by comfortable margins.
Biden dropping out of the presidential race may also have moved the needle for Democratic candidates in some of the state’s most competitive House races — although Harris did not prove to be all that popular in her home state, either.
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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.
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