housing

[ hou-zing ]

See synonyms for housing on Thesaurus.com

noun

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.

Origin of housing

First recorded in 1350–1400; house + -ing¹

Other words for housing

5	covering, casing, shield, sheath

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Other definitions for housing (2 of 2)

housing²

[ hou-zing ]

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.

Origin of housing

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”; -ing¹ added by association with house, housing¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use housing in a sentence

The Housings and Equipage of the latter are of the same Pattern, and extremely rich.
The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume I | Karl Ludwig von Pllnitz
As the man was sometimes defended entirely by garments of quilted fabrics, so the horse also wore pourpointed housings.
Armour & Weapons | Charles John Ffoulkes
His coat-of-arms, that of the house of Friedwald, was richly emblazoned upon the housings of his courser.
Under the Rose | Frederic Stewart Isham
The golden standards with the white pennons, the purple horse-housings and the silver staff fell to the brave Sviatoslavitch.
The Rise of the Russian Empire | Hector H. Munro
After them came a Turkish lady, a relation of the grand seignior, in a litter borne by two camels with rich housings.
Early Travels in Palestine | Arculf et al.

British Dictionary definitions for housing (1 of 2)

housing¹

/ (ˈhaʊzɪŋ) /

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

British Dictionary definitions for housing (2 of 2)

housing²

/ (ˈhaʊzɪŋ) /

noun

(often plural) archaic another word for trappings (def. 2)

Origin of housing

C14: from Old French houce covering, of Germanic origin

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

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