housing project

American

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

noun

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

housing project British

noun

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

"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

Etymology

Origin of housing project

First recorded in 1935–40

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.

Hempcrete is being used for purposes like insulation, for instance in a housing project underway in Lewes, England.

From BBC • Mar. 16, 2026

She moved the family from the Ramona Gardens housing project in Boyle Heights to the apartment where Davis grew up around Pico and Western when Davis was just a few years old.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2025

The family lived in a Brooklyn housing project at a time when such accommodations were safe, comfortable and a marker of the American black middle class.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025

Donald MacDonald’s Two Worlds housing project in Mountain View creates a layered, mixed-use “village” filled with irregular plazas and mature foliage.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2025

There happened to be a Boy Scout drum and bugle corps located in the housing project next to ours.

From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston

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