noun
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an institution for orphans and abandoned children
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the state of being an orphan
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of orphanage
Explanation
An orphanage is a place where children without parents are cared for and housed. If a child has no parents — because the parents died or lost custody — the child is considered an orphan. Orphans are parentless. An orphanage is an institution that takes care of orphans. An orphanage will care for tiny babies and also older children without parents. Orphanages care for children until they can be placed in homes and adopted.
Vocabulary lists containing orphanage
The Shakespeare Stealer
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One for the Murphys
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Tasting the Sky
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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.
The KWS has not commented on the allegation about the car park but said that the public had been consulted about the plan to constrict a new orphanage.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
Eleven-year-old Margot “Meg” Lefleur, one of the two narrators of Kathryn Stockett’s historical novel “The Calamity Club,” has been a resident of an orphanage in Oxford, Miss., since 1931—two miserable years.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
Back in George Allan's organ orphanage, there is hope something might be done.
From BBC • Mar. 11, 2026
His mission: take back the mine and repay the Mexican orphanage that once saved him.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 18, 2026
I think of the orphanage from the movie our music teacher made us watch.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
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.
