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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

Last week’s calls from inside the house that A.I. companies are at risk of losing control of their monsters and killing everyone—true or not!—have continued to sweep the news.

From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2026

Ben Homer, managing director of Littleton Auctions, described it as "one of the most exciting collections" the auction house had brought to market.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

My husband and I went to see it anyway, and when the house lights came up we immediately vowed to stop others from making our mistake.

From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026

The action sometimes takes place simultaneously on both floors, or inside and outside the house.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Upon his recapture, he was confined to the ramshackle house again so authorities could keep a closer eye on him.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Jonathan Greenberger, Politico’s global editor in chief, said in an email to staff Saturday that members of the Secret Service confiscated the pass of Cheyenne Haslett, a White House reporter for the outlet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

Without access to the grounds, affected journalists also lose their regular workspace and access to areas such as Reporters’ Lane, where television correspondents frequently deliver live reports from the White House complex.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

An MS NOW reporter and a photographer tried entering the White House grounds on Saturday morning, but their badges would not scan and an officer confiscated them, the outlet reported.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Reporters for the two TV news channels could still be seen broadcasting from their stations on the White House driveway.

From Barron's

Maggie took long carriage rides with Elisha, past the White House, the still unfinished Capitol Building, and out to “old country inns,” all apparently unchaperoned.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Recently, driving through the city of Frostproof, where he grew up, Rucks pointed toward the railroad tracks, once lined with citrus packing houses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

The social media account regularly shares videos of property listings, often highlighting some of the strangest looking houses on the market across the country.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

In a cyberwar, the United States has much bigger stones but much glassier houses.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Emar says he hoped that the region's roughly 1,100 Palestinian residents could one day live safely in houses.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

It was built right against the shore, the houses low wooden cabins painted in faded colors.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

Prosecutors allege De Anda housed hundreds of rescue animals in inhospitable conditions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

Only Ross Cameron, co-founder of Lyric Capital Group, a private equity firm focused on music royalties, housed on four, responded.

From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026

The fossil, cataloged as MGB-512, is about 50 centimeters long and is housed at the Museum of Natural Sciences of Barcelona.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

A younger left, as the statement says at the beginning: “We are people of this generation, bred in at least modest comfort, housed now in universities . . .”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Big Ma’s “children” sounded like a “churn” making butter, and depending upon how he heard her, her “horses” watered lawns or housed people.

From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law two bills that will overhaul the landmark California Environmental Quality Act in an effort to streamline housing development in the state.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

But why, when the country is in a housing crisis with a desperate need for affordable homes, are flats now struggling to sell?

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

WalletHub ranks Oregon fourth highest in share of income spent on housing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

The rise in concessions reflects today’s buyer-friendly housing market: August was the strongest buyer’s market in records dating back to 2013.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

You are no longer eligible for food stamps; you may be discriminated against in employment; you cannot vote for at least twelve years; and you are about to be evicted from public housing.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

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