Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for hothouse on Thesaurus.com noun, plural hot·hous·es [hot -hou-ziz] /ˈhɒtˌhaʊ zɪz/ an artificially heated greenhouse for the cultivation of tender plants. Show More
of, relating to, or noting a plant grown in a hothouse, or so fragile as to be capable of being grown only in a hothouse. overprotected, artificial, or unnaturally delicate. Show More
Origin of hothouse First recorded in
1505–15; hot +
house Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for hothouse bed ,
field ,
nursery ,
terrace ,
patio ,
greenhouse ,
plot ,
conservatory ,
patch ,
oasis ,
enclosure ,
hothouse Examples from the Web for hothouse Contemporary Examples of hothouse If Saudi Arabia is a hothouse flower, then Americans have helped build the greenhouse.
Hothouse by Boris Kachka A romp through the history of venerable publisher Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Outside the hothouse of that environment, he is making sense—though his is a message that many conservatives may not want to hear.
Historical Examples of hothouse It is with the Hindu mind as if a seed were placed in a hothouse .
No; it is still the spirits' home—a hothouse for sickly plants.
All the stock of hothouse and stove plants at Hartwell Priory.
It is as hot as fire here, and the park has that steamy smell that a hothouse has.
She always looked like a hothouse flower, and now she is simply frail.
British Dictionary definitions for hothouse a greenhouse in which the temperature is maintained at a fixed level above that of the surroundings (as modifier ) a hothouse plant an environment that encourages rapid development (as modifier ) a hot-house atmosphere an environment where there is great pressure showjumping is a tough, hothouse world (modifier) informal , often censorious sensitive or delicate a hothouse temperament Show More
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
Word Origin and History for hothouse n. mid-15c., "bath house," from hot + house (n.). In 17c. a euphemism for "brothel" (cf. massage parlor ); the meaning "glass-roofed structure for raising plants" is from 1749. Figurative use by 1802.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
