housing project

American  

[hou-zing proj-ekt, proj-ikt] / ˈhaʊ zɪŋ ˌprɒdʒ ɛkt, ˌprɒdʒ ɪkt /

noun

1. a publicly built and operated housing development, usually intended for low- or moderate-income tenants, senior citizens, etc.

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housing project British  

noun

1. a housing development built and maintained by a local authority, usually intended for people with a low or moderate income

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Etymology

Origin of housing project

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Blankfein said that because of his childhood — he grew up in a housing project in Brooklyn — he found it difficult for a long time to think of himself as wealthy, despite his fortune.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 17, 2026

Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor came from little in a material sense, he from tiny Pin Point, Ga., she from a Bronx tenement and later a housing project.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026

Other issues also are animating the race, including debate over the response to the Palisades fire and a controversial housing project in Venice.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

Westhoughton-born actress Maxine Peake was among the campaigners against it, describing it as a "housing project in golf clothing".

From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026

The Lanes, who lived in a housing project in Harlem, already had several children, each with a fairly typical name.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt