homework
- 1Exercises a teacher assigns to students to review the concepts studied in class.
She spent two hours on her homework after soccer practice.
Most teachers assign homework to reinforce the day's lessons.
Similarschoolwork, assignments, coursework, exercises
Note
Most of the time it behaves as a mass noun: you do homework, or put in 30 minutes' homework a night, rather than counting homeworks. The plural does appear in writing about the classroom. Pete Bell, in The Guardian in 2011, plans "a few preparation homeworks", treating each assignment as a separate unit. Elsewhere the uncountable form is the safe choice.
- 2Material that someone is encouraged to learn or study independently, often before a meeting or decision.
Investors who do their homework rarely get caught by surprise.
Before the debate, each candidate had clearly done their homework on the issues.
Similarresearch, preparation, groundwork, legwork, prep
Note
The figurative sense lives mostly in one idiom: to do one's homework, meaning to find things out before you act, speak or decide. No teacher sets it. The duty is implied, which is why the phrase so easily turns into praise (he had certainly done his homework) or reproach (they should've done some homework). It is the obvious stretch of the school assignment, from the classroom to any preparation.
- 3Slang term for sexual intercourse, used playfully in place of a more direct word.
After the kids left for camp, the couple finally had time for some homework.
He suggested skipping the restaurant in favor of homework at his place.
Similarsex
Note
A coy joke that borrows the dutiful, chore-like ring of the school word. James T. Farrell's Gas-House McGinty (1933) has a husband trying for a child who says "we do plenty of homework", where sex is framed as a task faithfully carried out. It is slang and works only when the double meaning is obvious. Otherwise listeners simply hear assignments.
- 4Tasks a dominant assigns to a submissive to carry out while away from them or otherwise free.
Between sessions, she worked through the homework her dominant had assigned.
He expected the homework to be done by the time they next met.
Similartasks, assignments, chores, duties
Note
In BDSM the word is not a joke or a euphemism. It plainly names real tasks. What it borrows from the school assignment is the structure: one person sets the work, the other completes it alone, and it is expected to be done by the next meeting. That accountability across time apart is what keeps the dynamic going between encounters.
Less common meaning
- 5Work done at home, such as cleaning, cooking, and other household chores.
The eldest daughter managed most of the household homework while her mother worked the fields.
Long days of homework left little time for rest in those years.
Note
The compound read at face value, home plus work, and now rare. Eileen Boris and Cynthia R. Daniels's Homework: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (1989) uses it for work done at home as a livelihood, set beside workfare schemes and training programs. Modern readers will hear the school sense first, so housework or work done at home is clearer unless the context makes the older meaning plain.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of homework apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
Formed from the words "home" and "work."