- present participle of house.
housing
1 Americannoun
-
any shelter, lodging, or dwelling place.
-
houses collectively.
-
the act of one who houses or puts under shelter.
-
the providing of houses for a group or community.
the housing of an influx of laborers.
-
anything that covers or protects.
-
Machinery. a fully enclosed case and support for a mechanism.
-
Carpentry. the space made in one piece of wood, or the like, for the insertion of another.
-
Nautical.
-
Also called bury. the portion of a mast below the deck.
-
Also called bury. the portion of a bowsprit aft of the forward part of the stem of a vessel.
-
the doubling of an upper mast.
-
-
a niche for a statue.
noun
-
a covering of cloth for the back and flanks of a horse or other animal, for protection or ornament.
-
housings, the trappings on a horse.
noun
-
-
houses or dwellings collectively
-
( as modifier )
a housing problem
-
-
the act of providing with accommodation
-
a hole, recess, groove, or slot made in one wooden member to receive another
-
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
-
another word for houseline
noun
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
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.
Bozeman Mayor Joey Morrison, who was elected at 28 on a platform focused on affordable housing, says the rapid change has created a sharp divide between locals and people from out of state.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Huntington Beach, meanwhile, has been more defiant, refusing for years to zone for thousands of new homes that the housing law had required.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
Europe is particularly vulnerable to extreme heat, given that its housing stock is built to retain warmth, it has dense cities, and its population is aging rapidly, according to German insurer Allianz.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Rich home buyers are powering the housing market.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
HUD’s “One Strike Guide” calls on housing agencies to “take full advantage of their authority to use stringent screening and eviction procedures.”
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
![]()
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.