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• house
  house

  noun

  a building in which people live; residence for human beings.
• House
  House

  noun

  Edward Mandell Colonel House, 1858–1938, U.S. diplomat.

house

¹ American  

[hous, houz] / haʊs, haʊz /

noun

• houses
  plural

1. a building in which people live; residence for human beings.

   Synonyms:

   abode, domicile

2. a household.

3. (often initial capital letter) a family, including ancestors and descendants.

   the great houses of France; the House of Hapsburg.

4. a building for any purpose.

   a house of worship.

5. a theater, concert hall, or auditorium.

   a vaudeville house.

6. the audience of a theater or the like.

7. a place of shelter for an animal, bird, etc. (usually used in combination).

   a doghouse.

8. the building in which a legislative or official deliberative body meets.

9. House, the body itself, especially of a bicameral legislature.

   the House of Representatives.

10. a quorum of such a body.

11. (often initial capital letter) a commercial establishment; business firm.

    the House of Rothschild; a publishing house.

12. a gambling casino.

13. the management of a commercial establishment or of a gambling casino.

    rules of the house.

14. an advisory or deliberative group, especially in church or college affairs.

15. a college in an English-type university.

16. a residential hall in a college or school; dormitory.

17. the members or residents of any such residential hall.

18. Informal. a brothel; whorehouse.

19. house music.

20. British. a variety of lotto or bingo played with paper and pencil, especially by soldiers as a gambling game.

21. Also called parish.  Curling. the area enclosed by a circle 12 or 14 feet (3.7 or 4.2 meters) in diameter at each end of the rink, having the tee in the center.

22. Nautical. any enclosed shelter above the weather deck of a vessel.

    bridge house; deck house.

23. Astrology. one of the 12 divisions of the celestial sphere, numbered counterclockwise from the point of the eastern horizon.

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verb (used with object)

• houses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• housed,
  past participle,  past
• housing
  present participle

1. to put or receive into a house, dwelling, or living quarters.

   More than 200 students were housed in the dormitory.

2. to give shelter to; harbor; lodge.

   to house flood victims in schools.

3. to provide with a place to work, study, or the like.

   This building houses our executive staff.

4. to provide storage space for; be a receptacle for or repository of.

   The library houses 600,000 books.

5. to remove from exposure; put in a safe place.

6. Nautical.

   1. to stow securely.

   2. to lower (an upper mast) and make secure, as alongside the lower mast.

   3. to heave (an anchor) home.

7. Carpentry.

   1. to fit the end or edge of (a board or the like) into a notch, hole, or groove.

   2. to form (a joint) between two pieces of wood by fitting the end or edge of one into a dado of the other.

verb (used without object)

• houses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• housed,
  past participle,  past
• housing
  present participle

1. to take shelter; dwell.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or noting a house.

2. for or suitable for a house.

   house paint.

3. served by a restaurant as its customary brand.

   the house wine.

4. of or being a product made by or for a specific retailer and often sold under the store's own label.

   You'll save money on the radio if you buy the house brand.

idioms

1. clean house. clean.

2. on the house, as a gift from the management; free.

   Tonight the drinks are on the house.

3. put / set one's house in order,

   1. to settle one's affairs.

   2. to improve one's behavior or correct one's faults.

      It is easy to criticize others, but it would be better to put one's own house in order first.

4. keep house, to maintain a home; manage a household.

5. dress the house,

   1. to fill a theater with many people admitted on free passes; paper the house.

   2. to arrange or space the seating of patrons in such a way as to make an audience appear larger or a theater or nightclub more crowded than it actually is.

6. bring down the house, to call forth vigorous applause from an audience; be highly successful.

   The children's performances brought down the house.

7. like a house on fire / afire, very quickly; with energy or enthusiasm.

   The new product took off like a house on fire.

House ² American  

[hous] / haʊs /

noun

1. Edward Mandell Colonel House, 1858–1938, U.S. diplomat.

2. Son Eddie James House, Jr., 1902–88, U.S. blues singer and guitarist.

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house ¹ British  

noun

1. 1. a building used as a home; dwelling

   2. ( as modifier )

      house dog

2. the people present in a house, esp its usual occupants

3. 1. a building used for some specific purpose

   2. ( in combination )

      a schoolhouse

4. (often capital) a family line including ancestors and relatives, esp a noble one

   the House of York

5. 1. a commercial company; firm

      a publishing house

   2. ( as modifier )

      house style

      a house journal

6. an official deliberative or legislative body, such as one chamber of a bicameral legislature

7. a quorum in such a body (esp in the phrase make a house )

8. a dwelling for a religious community

9. astrology any of the 12 divisions of the zodiac See also planet

10. 1. any of several divisions, esp residential, of a large school

    2. ( as modifier )

       house spirit

11. 1. a hotel, restaurant, bar, inn, club, etc, or the management of such an establishment

    2. ( as modifier )

       house rules

    3. ( in combination )

       steakhouse

12. (modifier) (of wine) sold unnamed by a restaurant, at a lower price than wines specified on the wine list

    the house red

13. the audience in a theatre or cinema

14. an informal word for brothel

15. a hall in which an official deliberative or legislative body meets

16. See full house

17. curling the 12-foot target circle around the tee

18. nautical any structure or shelter on the weather deck of a vessel

19. theatre to win great applause

20. an emphatic form of home

21. to be always ready to provide hospitality

22. informal very well, quickly, or intensely

23. (usually of drinks) paid for by the management of the hotel, bar, etc

24. to settle or organize one's affairs

25. very secure

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verb

1. (tr) to provide with or serve as accommodation

2. to give or receive shelter or lodging

3. (tr) to contain or cover, esp in order to protect

4. (tr) to fit (a piece of wood) into a mortise, joint, etc

5. (tr) nautical

   1. to secure or stow

   2. to secure (a topmast)

   3. to secure and stow (an anchor)

House ² British  

/ haʊs /

noun

1. See House of Commons

2. informal the Stock Exchange

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house More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing house

• boardinghouse reach
• bring down the house
• clean house
• eat someone out of house and home
• get on (like a house afire)
• keep house
• on the house
• open house
• people who live in glass houses
• put one's house in order
• safe as houses

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Synonym Usage

House, dwelling, residence, home are terms applied to a place to live in. Dwelling is now chiefly poetic, or used in legal or technical contexts, as in a lease or in the phrase multiple dwelling. Residence is characteristic of formal usage and often implies size and elegance of structure and surroundings: the private residence of the king. These two terms and house have always had reference to the structure to be lived in. Home has recently taken on this meaning and become practically equivalent to house, the new meaning tending to crowd out the older connotations of family ties and domestic comfort. See also hotel.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subhouse
  noun
• houseless
  adjective
• well-housed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• houses
  plural

Participles

• housing
  present
• housed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• house
  simple
• houses
  simple
• have housed
  perfect
• has housed
  perfect
• am housing
  progressive
• are housing
  progressive
• is housing
  progressive
• have been housing
  perfect progressive
• has been housing
  perfect progressive

Past

• housed
  simple
• had housed
  perfect
• was housing
  progressive
• were housing
  progressive
• had been housing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will house
  simple
• will have housed
  perfect
• will be housing
  progressive
• will have been housing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of house

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun h(o)us, hous(s)e, Old English hūs; cognate with Dutch huis, Low German huus, Old Norse hūs, German Haus, Gothic -hūs (in gudhūs “temple”); the verb is derivative of the noun

Explanation

A house is a building where you might live alone or it could be a multi-family house that you share with other families. If you live in an apartment building, that's "home," but it's not a house. You can also use house to refer to groups of people. The House of Tudor is an English royal family. Governing bodies can be houses: the Houses of Parliament, in Britain, or the House of Representatives, in the US. In a theater, the house is the audience. When house is a verb, meaning to provide a house for, as in “where are you going to house all your guests?” — it’s pronounced with a -z-, rather than an -s-.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

house House houses housed housing

During World War II, Trent Park, a country house north of London, was turned into a camp for high-ranking German prisoners of war.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

A total of 84 generals and 22 lower-ranking officers were held in the house -- known as No. 11 Camp -- between 1942 and 1945, served by valets and even allowed out on day trips.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

The combined company would house two major movie and television studios, the CBS broadcast network, dozens of cable channels including CNN, and streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Resident Caryl Holmes said most of her family live around the area, with her daughter's house "practically on the mountain".

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

I think back to everything that happened in New Orleans: the museum, the jubilation and hope I felt visiting 1965, and, of course, the soul-crushing visit to the Jump house.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

But the House of Lords environment committee said their sale should be restricted, adding widespread use posed a potential threat to natural ecosystems.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

However, it remains unclear when -- or if -- the White House will release the details of the process or how it will be implemented and enforced.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

Tensions appeared to ease when the two leaders met privately at the White House in May.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

As it has done in the past, the White House on Tuesday derided Bonta’s lawsuits as misguided.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

John Kennedy and aide Dave Powers were sitting in the White House living quarters having a late supper of roast chicken when Bobby walked in.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

But as an Australian well-versed with the threat of bushfires, she said her heart went out to people in Spain mourning "lost houses and lost loved ones".

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

"Trent Park is one of a network of intelligence houses, let's call them, the most famous of them being Bletchley Park," museum director Giuseppe Albano told AFP.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

BP’s customers and products division, which houses its oil-trading unit, reported quarterly earnings of $5.1 billion, up from $2.5 billion in the prior quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Aikebaer immigrated to Southern California from China nearly 20 years ago, according to Nijiati, and has participated in several business ventures including flipping houses and opening a fast-food restaurant.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

They’d step out of the cave, and all the trees would be gone; the newly built houses would be ancient and falling down.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Located a 10-minute walk from the town centre, The Bell Hotel housed asylum seekers from May 2020 until June this year.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

The prison housed 4,100 inmates, about four times its capacity, an issue common across the country's jails.

From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026

Truelove’s mental illness, his half-sister said, made it difficult for him to perform basic tasks, such as getting a job, paying bills or staying housed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

Ironically, Time Warner’s corporate assets, which have been bought and sold several times since, are now largely housed at Warner Bros.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

As I made the long walk from my car to the entrance of the building that normally housed the county fair, I moved past vendors selling hot dogs, American flags, and T-shirts.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

The deal ballooned Whirlpool’s net debt to more than $6 billion just as the U.S. housing market took a nosedive amid spiking interest rates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

He said the U.S. housing market will eventually rebound, and when it does, InSinkErator will be “a wonderful business.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

She says her aim is to "level the playing field", adding the singles tax is particularly high when it comes to housing.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Phillips admitted three offences including failing to lawfully and decently bury his mother and continue to claim her pension and benefits including housing benefits and winter fuel allowances.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

“It’s all right. Temporary housing for the position. I’m looking for a permanent place for us to move to after the summer.”

From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Related Words

• apartment
• box
• building
• condo
• condominium
• dwelling
• home
• mansion
• residence
• shack