hostel

[ hos-tl ]

See synonyms for hostel on Thesaurus.com

noun

Also called youth hostel. an inexpensive, supervised lodging place for young people on bicycle trips, hikes, etc.
(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.: See also residential school (def. 2).

British. a student residence at a university or boarding school.
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.

Origin of hostel

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English (h)ostel, from Old French, from Late Latin hospitāle “guest room”; see hospital

Words that may be confused with hostel

1. hostel , hostile
2. hostel , hotel, motel

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

How to use hostel in a sentence

She traveled in local buses, stayed in hostels and cheap hotels.
Let’s Free Stacey Addison, The Oregon Woman Jailed at the Ends of the Earth | Christopher Dickey | October 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Many of the people who come here spend their nights in dedicated shelters and homeless hostels across the city.
A Dickensian Christmas For Greece’s New Poor | Barbie Latza Nadeau | December 22, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
She remembers staying in youth hostels and private homes rather than in high-rise hotels.
Alyse Nelson: A Life Less Ordinary | Abigail Pesta | June 6, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
There are four large hostels in London for the accommodation of officers, and one for officer-cadets.
The Romance of the Red Triangle | Arthur Keysall Yapp
For the convenience of pupils who cannot attend school while living at home hostels are attached to many middle and high schools.
The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir | Sir James McCrone Douie

I do not want to see the home superseded by State barracks or common hostels or district boarding schools.
The Law and the Poor | Edward Abbott Parry
Hostels were gradually started for scholars in the university town.
Our English Towns and Villages | H. R. Wilton Hall
In slightly more grammatical language, it could be well applied to these hostels.
The Land of the Black Mountain | Reginald Wyon

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

Origin of 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

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