Showing results for "housing"

• present participle of house.

housing

¹ American  

[hau-zing] / ˈhaʊ zɪŋ /

noun

1. any shelter, lodging, or dwelling place.

2. houses collectively.

3. the act of one who houses or puts under shelter.

4. the providing of houses for a group or community.

   the housing of an influx of laborers.

5. anything that covers or protects.

   Synonyms:

   sheath, shield, casing, covering

6. Machinery. a fully enclosed case and support for a mechanism.

7. Carpentry. the space made in one piece of wood, or the like, for the insertion of another.

8. Nautical.

   1. Also called bury. the portion of a mast below the deck.

   2. Also called bury. the portion of a bowsprit aft of the forward part of the stem of a vessel.

   3. the doubling of an upper mast.

9. a niche for a statue.

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housing ² American  

[hau-zing] / ˈhaʊ zɪŋ /

noun

1. a covering of cloth for the back and flanks of a horse or other animal, for protection or ornament.

2. housings, the trappings on a horse.

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housing ¹ British  

/ ˈhaʊzɪŋ /

noun

1. 1. houses or dwellings collectively

   2. ( as modifier )

      a housing problem

2. the act of providing with accommodation

3. a hole, recess, groove, or slot made in one wooden member to receive another

4. a part designed to shelter, cover, contain, or support a component, such as a bearing, or a mechanism, such as a pump or wheel

   a bearing housing

   a motor housing

   a wheel housing

5. another word for houseline

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housing ² British  

/ ˈhaʊzɪŋ /

noun

1. archaic (often plural) another word for trappings

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Etymology

Origin of housing¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; house + -ing ¹ ( def. )

Origin of housing²

First recorded in 1690–1700; compare earlier house, Middle English hous(e), houc(e) in same sense, from Old French houce, from unrecorded Germanic hulfti- (compare Medieval Latin hultia ), akin to Middle Dutch hulfte “cover for bow and arrow,” Middle High German hulft “covering”; -ing ¹ added by association with house, housing ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

housing

Stewart, who bought his home long before housing costs skyrocketed, now pays it forward.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

In September, the total for-sale housing inventory in the U.S. jumped to 1.6 million units, the highest level since November 2019, NAR said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026

The result: A shortage of housing, water and energy—and inevitably higher prices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

The couple running it told officials they were housing 60 people, but upon inspection, more than three times that number were found, including more than 30 women.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

On the days when I wasn’t teaching, I also helped make ends meet as the director of the local United Service Organizations, or USO, assisting members of the military to find jobs and housing.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

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