house-raising

[hous-rey-zing]

noun

1. a gathering of persons in a rural community to help one of its members build a house.

Word History and Origins

Origin of house-raising¹

An Americanism dating back to 1695–1705

Example Sentences

“They framed the whole house, and the garage, in three days. Thirty journeymen framers. Because of her,” said Koerner, his voice breaking as he recalled the house-raising that began in mid-July.

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Last month, he participated in a house-raising project in Tennessee with the charity Habitat for Humanity, which he accompanies each year to Nepal for similar projects.

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Additionally, the audit said the state is working to recoup about $10.4 million from house-raising contractors for work that it says was not done.

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What lends life to the sport is the fact that everybody's in it—it's the team play of the open-hearth, like a house-raising in the community.

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One night, as he was returning from a house-raising, he and two or three friends found a man in the ditch benumbed with the cold, and his patient horse waiting beside him.

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