poorhouse
Americannoun
-
poorhouses
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of poorhouse
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.
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When Marla Carter visits her mother-in-law at a nursing home in Owensboro, Kentucky, the scene feels more 19th-century poorhouse than modern-day America.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2023
The night our world changed, I was in a copper baron’s palatial Adirondack home, writing about the history of the poorhouse.
From New York Times ● Jul. 5, 2022
Elon Musk is not heading to the poorhouse if this thing doesn’t work out.
From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2022
“I was afraid I’d put my family in the poorhouse because every time I went by an antique store I’d go in and buy watches,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2019
Railroad Tommy had given him a janitor’s job to save him from the poorhouse, workhouse, or nuthouse, one.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
The first approach argues for “indoor relief,” placing individuals primarily in institutions like poorhouses, or today’s public shelters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Older adults were generally considered a “burden on the local taxes,” and many were either sent to poorhouses or auctioned off as farm labor.
From Salon ● Apr. 7, 2025
I recently read Dorothea Dix’s 1843 report on her investigation into the care of mentally ill people in poorhouses and prisons in Massachusetts.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 23, 2022
One was the Know-Nothing movement of the 1850s, which led to deportations of Irish migrants found in Massachusetts poorhouses.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 14, 2019
The number of workers who, by reason of old age or other infirmity, are compelled to take refuge in the poorhouses, bears a larger proportion to the total population than it did a generation ago.
From Problems of Poverty by J. A. (John Atkinson) Hobson
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