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housework

American  
[hous-wurk] / ˈhaʊsˌwɜrk /

noun

  1. the work of cleaning, cooking, etc., to be done in housekeeping.

housework British  
/ ˈhaʊsˌwɜːk /

noun

  1. the work of running a home, such as cleaning, cooking, etc

"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

Other Word Forms

  • houseworker noun

Etymology

Origin of housework

First recorded in 1570–80; house + work

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Though the ring knows when I’ve been walking, it confuses my harried morning routine for housework.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026

About half of caregivers regularly assisted a parent with errands, housework and home repairs.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 26, 2026

“I help my parents, siblings and friends with odd jobs — running social media accounts, housework, pet-sitting,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 22, 2025

The only marriages in which men tend to do more housework and child care than their spouses are marriages in which the women are the sole breadwinner.

From Slate • Jun. 15, 2025

“I’m not the kind of person to sit around doing nothing,” she said to Doña Ana, and I wondered how she could think of her housework as nothing when she spent hours doing it.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.