housing

¹ American  

[hou-zing] / ˈhaʊ zɪŋ /

noun

1. any shelter, lodging, or dwelling place.

2. houses collectively.

3. the act of one who houses or puts under shelter.

4. the providing of houses for a group or community.

   the housing of an influx of laborers.

5. anything that covers or protects.

   Synonyms:

   sheath, shield, casing, covering

6. Machinery. a fully enclosed case and support for a mechanism.

7. Carpentry. the space made in one piece of wood, or the like, for the insertion of another.

8. Nautical.

   1. Also called bury.  the portion of a mast below the deck.

   2. Also called bury.  the portion of a bowsprit aft of the forward part of the stem of a vessel.

   3. the doubling of an upper mast.

9. a niche for a statue.

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housing ² American  

[hou-zing] / ˈhaʊ zɪŋ /

noun

1. a covering of cloth for the back and flanks of a horse or other animal, for protection or ornament.

2. housings, the trappings on a horse.

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housing ¹ British  

/ ˈhaʊzɪŋ /

noun

1. 1. houses or dwellings collectively

   2. ( as modifier )

      a housing problem

2. the act of providing with accommodation

3. a hole, recess, groove, or slot made in one wooden member to receive another

4. 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

5. another word for houseline

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housing ² British  

/ ˈhaʊzɪŋ /

noun

1. archaic (often plural) another word for trappings

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Etymology

Origin of housing¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; house + -ing ¹ ( def. )

Origin of housing²

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”; -ing ¹ added by association with house, housing ¹

Example Sentences

Although some have hoped that the housing affordability crisis would lead more homeowners to remodel rather than move, that hasn’t happened consistently enough to bolster home-improvement sales.

From Barron's • May 18, 2026

He said that the switch to more housing would not leave the duchy any worse off: "More houses, more tenants, more income," Mr Baker said.

From BBC • May 18, 2026

Called the Top 100 Problem Rental Properties, the new tool launched by City Controller Kenneth Mejia shows the properties with the most housing violation cases, as well as their owners.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026

The million-dollar real-estate market is outperforming the overall housing market in Miami-Dade County, said Gay Cororaton, chief economist at the Miami Association of Realtors.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

Douglas Massey and Nancy Denton’s book, American Apartheid, documents how racially segregated ghettos were deliberately created by federal policy, not impersonal market forces or private housing choices.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander