workhouse

[wurk-hous]

noun

plural

workhouses 

1. a house of correction.

2. British.,  (formerly) a poorhouse in which paupers were given work.

3. Obsolete.,  a workshop.

workhouse

/ ˈwɜːkˌhaʊs /

noun

1. (formerly in England) an institution maintained at public expense where able-bodied paupers did unpaid work in return for food and accommodation

2. (in the US) a prison for petty offenders serving short sentences at manual labour

Word History and Origins

Origin of workhouse¹

before 1100; Middle English werkhous, Old English weorchūs workshop. See work, house

Example Sentences

In Northern Ireland, there were also three Magdalene Laundries – in effect, workhouses where women and girls were made to carry out demanding duties.

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Once released from prison, she emigrated to New York where in 1902 there is a record of her being placed in a workhouse as punishment for vagrancy.

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In the late 1840s, the ground in south Belfast was used to bury poor people from a nearby workhouse.

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"I've never experienced anything like that in my life. It was like a Victorian workhouse. The nurses were saying how bad it is, and they were saying they just had to crack on with it."

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The workhouse site became the location for Nottingham City Hospital and the chapel remained open for workers and patients, closing when a new one was opened.

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