hostel

[ hos-tl ]

/ ˈhɒs tl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hostel ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Also called youth hostel. an inexpensive, supervised lodging place for young people on bicycle trips, hikes, etc.

British. a residence hall at a university.

an inn.

verb (used without object), hos·teled, hos·tel·ing or (especially British) hos·telled, hos·tel·ling.

to travel, lodging each night at a hostel.

RELATED WORDS

inn, hotel

Nearby words

host, host computer, host-specific, hosta, hostage, hostel, hostel school, hosteler, hosteller, hostelling, hostelry

Origin of hostel

1200–50; Middle English (h)ostel < Old French < Late Latin hospitāle guest room. See hospital

Can be confused

hostel hostile (see synonym study at hostile)hostel hotel motel (see synonym study at hotel)

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

Examples from the Web for hostel

But, still, week after week, Addison lived in a Dili hostel waiting for the rusty wheels of Timorese justice to set her free.
Let’s Free Stacey Addison, The Oregon Woman Jailed at the Ends of the Earth|Christopher Dickey|October 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They drove through France before settling in Spain, where they rented rooms in a hostel in Malaga.
Desperate Parents Arrested After Fleeing Britain For Other Treatment Options for Son in Europe|Barbie Latza Nadeau|September 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This is a new kind of hostel for a new generation of traveller.
Not Your Typical Miami Pool Party|Starbucks|July 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On the other hand, I suspect that hostel also forbade alcohol and cigarettes too, right?
Live Chat: Let's Talk About Drugs|David Frum|January 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST

We sat in the kitchen of the North London hostel for delinquents where she lives, on probation, an electronic tag around her leg.
A Tinderbox Waiting for a Match|Gavin Knight|August 11, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Everybody at the College, and particularly at the Hostel, agreed that the first few weeks of the new term were trying.
A Popular Schoolgirl|Angela Brazil
If I'd been staying at the hostel, I expect we should have got on capitally next term!
The Luckiest Girl in the School|Angela Brazil
We stood outside the door of the hostel for some minutes, before deciding which direction we should take.
The Golden Grasshopper|W.H.G. Kingston
The missing link is the Hostel de ltoile, and apparently nothing exists which takes the place of it.
Castles and Chateaux of Old Navarre and the Basque Provinces|Francis Miltoun
We put up at the hostel of the Crown, and, in sooth, a merrier night I never spent withal.
William Shakespeare as he lived.|Henry Curling

British Dictionary definitions for hostel

hostel

/ (ˈhɒstəl) /

noun

a building providing overnight accommodation, as for the homeless, etc

See youth hostel

British a supervised lodging house for nurses, workers, etc

archaic another word for hostelry

Word Origin for hostel

C13: from Old French, from Medieval Latin hospitāle hospice; see hospital

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