outhouse
Americannoun
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outhouses
plural
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an outbuilding with one or more seats and a pit serving as a toilet; privy.
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any outbuilding.
noun
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a building near to, but separate from, a main building; outbuilding
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an outside lavatory
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of outhouse
Vocabulary lists containing outhouse
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.
See Examples For:
Not far from the church is a cluster of several homes that share an outhouse and an outdoor wood-fired grill for communal cooking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2026
We used candles, pumped water and had an outhouse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
Squish Factor – The outhouse at the dogsledding camp was surprisingly roomy and very clean!
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2025
Slauson appeared in The Seattle Times in 2006 after a landslide diverted the river through his front yard, taking his driveway, outhouse and shed with it.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 17, 2024
Now he rushed out of the outhouse and inhaled fresh air, rubbing the areas that still tickled from the flies.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
“We were basically homesteading the first 12 years. For the longest time, we didn’t have plumbing. We were using outhouses and washing dishes in the lake,” he admitted.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
He said he invested all his savings and borrowed money to build the cottages from ruined outhouses and barns on the property.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026
The lack of sewer lines means outhouses are a common sight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2024
As it turns out we have three outhouses, excuse me “Johns” to turn to as a potential replacement for the outgoing Mitch.
From Salon ● Feb. 29, 2024
There were at least two framed pictures of him in the Mess Hall, one in the kitchen, several nailed outside of the Green outhouses.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
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.
