flophouse

American  

[flop-hous] / ˈflɒpˌhaʊs /

noun

PLURAL

flophouses

1. a cheap, run-down hotel or rooming house.

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flophouse British  

/ ˈflɒpˌhaʊs /

noun

1. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): dosshouse.  slang  a cheap lodging house, esp one used by tramps

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Etymology

Origin of flophouse

First recorded in 1890–95; flop + house

Example Sentences

In Sacramento, the problem has exploded from a few hundred “inebriates” in flophouses to thousands in tents and encampments.

From Los Angeles Times

Most of them, a few hundred in all, lived in flophouse hotels.

From Los Angeles Times

“These are old, turn-of-the-century buildings. They used to be flophouses. It’s not an ideal living situation for a chronically homeless person to be in.”

From Los Angeles Times

For almost every character, the film is one hardship after another: late buses, empty wallets, a basement flophouse, capricious bullies.

From Seattle Times

The film captured the city’s most explosive bands tearing up their stages and flophouses, making Spheeris the poet laureate of disenchanted young Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times