hostel
Americannoun
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Also called youth hostel. an inexpensive, supervised lodging place for young people on bicycle trips, hikes, etc.
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(formerly) a residence for the exclusive use of boarding Indigenous students, separate from but close to any of a series of day schools in northern Canada that were operated or funded by the federal government and were themselves open to students of any ethnicity.
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British. a student residence at a university or boarding school.
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an inn.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a building providing overnight accommodation, as for the homeless, etc
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See youth hostel
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a supervised lodging house for nurses, workers, etc
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archaic another word for hostelry
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of hostel
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English (h)ostel, from Old French, from Late Latin hospitāle “guest room”; see hospital
Explanation
If you backpack around Europe and are traveling on a budget, you will probably want to stay in a hostel, an inexpensive lodging made typically for young travelers willing to sleep in dorms. The word hostel comes from the Latin hospitale meaning "inn, large house." Think of a hostel as an inn for students or young people. Often you can stay in one of these places for relatively little money because multiple beds are in one room and you share the bathroom with other guests. If you want to meet traveling students, you could try opening a youth hostel in your home town.
Vocabulary lists containing hostel
Some Tricky Homonyms
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To All the Boys I've Loved Before
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Born a Crime
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Zak and Bethany both feel booking sites should be providing a warning to travellers about what has previously happened at the hostel.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Her mother and grandmother are still living in a hostel seven years later -- just two of the many thousands of people evacuated from ruined buildings to cramped temporary lodgings.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
Nearby, a woman wept as she embraced a framed picture of her deceased relatives, while another family scattered rose petals at the ruins of the hostel in honour of their son.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Something about shared bathrooms, showers and bunk mates screams college and hostel life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
Jule packed her bags and went to a youth hostel she’d read about, on the other end of town.
From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
The first U.S. case of Andes virus actually occurred in January 2018, in a woman who had stayed in cabins and youth hostels in the Andes region of Argentina and Chile.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
Most travel to Oban on the mainland and stay in hostels during the week.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
Powell said more than 100 people are being housed at the charity's seven hostels - which he added was not a significant increase on previous years.
From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2026
It added that 226 children remain in temporary accommodation overall, with 84% of families housed in self-contained units and 16% living in hostels with shared amenities.
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2025
There were to be hostels and inns and seasonal study centers, and eventually permanent woodland villages—“self-owning” communities whose inhabitants would support themselves with cooperative “non-industrial activity” based on forestry, farming, and crafts.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Her parental father and his family retinue, large and small, married and unmarried, were hosteled on the 12th floor of the Waldorf.
From Epistles from Pap: Letters from the man known as 'The Will Rogers of Indiana' by Hay, Douglas (Douglas N.)
When “Should I Stay or Should I Go” blasted from the sound system, it summarized my ambivalence toward the hostel — and about the haute hosteling concept in general.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2013
Created last year, the place represents a subtrend in haute hosteling: an offsite annex of swish private rooms set up by an established traditional hostel — in this case the Violeta Hostel.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2013
In fact he devoted a whole chapter of his guide to hostelling.
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2018
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
