almshouse

[ ahmz-hous ]

noun,plural alms·hous·es [ahmz-hou-ziz]. /ˈɑmzˌhaʊ zɪz/. Chiefly British.
  1. a house endowed by private charity for the reception and support of the aged or infirm poor.

  2. (formerly) a poorhouse.

Origin of almshouse

1
First recorded in 1350–1400, almshouse is from Middle English almes hous. See alms, house

Words Nearby almshouse

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use almshouse in a sentence

  • The poor little dying pauper, lying in her dream at the almshouse, sees the figure of Death.

    Questionable Shapes | William Dean Howells
  • The most remarkable things that appear here at this day are a mosque, and an almshouse just by it, both built by sultan Ibrahim.

  • A Hamblyn was still a Hamblyn, though he lived in an almshouse.

    The Squire's Daughter | Silas K(itto) Hocking
  • I forgot to mention services held in jail and almshouse while in Canon City.

    Prisons and Prayer: Or a Labor of Love | Elizabeth Ryder Wheaton

British Dictionary definitions for almshouse

almshouse

/ (ˈɑːmzˌhaʊs) /


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

  2. 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