almshouse

[ahmz-hous]

noun, plural alms·hous·es [ahmz-hou-ziz] /ˈɑmzˌhaʊ zɪz/. Chiefly British.

a house endowed by private charity for the reception and support of the aged or infirm poor.

(formerly) a poorhouse.

Origin of almshouse

First recorded in 1350–1400, almshouse is from the Middle English word almes hous. See alms, house

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for almshouse

Historical Examples of almshouse

He took his way across the fields, so as to reach the Almshouse before his father.
Paul Prescott's Charge
Horatio Alger
The almshouse could tell the story of a hundred women who married men to reform them.
The Wedding Ring
T. De Witt Talmage
On the one side is the palace, on the other are the almshouse and "silent poor."
Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience
Henry David Thoreau
She provides for us an almshouse in which we can take refuge when we are old and weary.
The Green Carnation
Robert Smythe Hichens
No, that's too grand a comparison; rather, Oxford is like an almshouse for clergymen's widows.
Loss and Gain
John Henry Newman

British Dictionary definitions for almshouse

almshouse

noun

British history a privately supported house offering accommodation to the aged or needy

mainly British another name for poorhouse

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

Word Origin and History for almshouse

mid-15c., from alms + house (n.).