workhouse
noun
a house of correction.
workhouses
-
pluralof workhouse.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
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.
An apology is also expected in Northern Ireland but not until after a public inquiry has been carried out, following a recommendation from a 2021 report on mother and baby institutions, Magdalene laundries and workhouses.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
In Northern Ireland, there were also three Magdalene Laundries – in effect, workhouses where women and girls were made to carry out demanding duties.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2025
The children came from parish workhouses, some orphans, some just abandoned, and they lived in a dormitory next to the mill and served as “apprentices,” working 70-hour weeks in a Dickensian life of indentured servitude.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 1, 2022
The Anatomy Act 1832 sought to quell grave robbing and the outcry by establishing a new legal source of bodies; the unclaimed from workhouses, hospitals and prisons, as well as by making body donation legal.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 7, 2022
Crossing a walled river of Stygian sludge, we entered a district of factories and workhouses, of smokestacks belching black stuff into the sky, and this is where we found Wakeling Street.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
