halfway house

American  

noun

1. an inn or stopping place situated approximately midway between two places on a road.

2. any place considered as midway in a course.

3. a residence for former mental patients, convicts, or recovering drug users or alcoholics that serves as a transitional environment between confinement and the return to society.

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halfway house British  

noun

1. a place to rest midway on a journey

2. the halfway point in any progression

3. a centre or hostel designed to facilitate the readjustment to private life of released prisoners, mental patients, etc

4. a compromise

   a halfway house between fixed and floating exchange rates

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Etymology

Origin of halfway house

First recorded in 1685–95

Example Sentences

After his release from jail, Brueckner was taken to a halfway house in Neumuenster, the magazine said.

From Barron's • Oct. 23, 2025

The 2007 Second Chance Act allows people to transition from prisons to the community, serving up to the final 12 months of their sentence in a halfway house.

From Slate • Jul. 5, 2025

"Hey, let me pack up your stuff and you leave him. Yeah, I'll get you to a halfway house."

From Salon • Oct. 18, 2024

The halfway house has left people disgruntled, on both sides of the debate.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2024

After leaving Camp Green Lake, he first spent six months at a halfway house in San Antonio, where he attended school and received counseling.

From "Small Steps" by Louis Sachar