house

HOWS/haʊs/

As a verbHOWZ

Pluralhouses

Verbhouses, housing, housed

Often confused with home

35 meanings of house

Practice

1
dwellingnouncountable or uncountable
A building that people live in, usually one family, not a flat in a bigger building.
Their house has three bedrooms.
Come over to my house after school.
UsageSay go home (not ~~incorrect: go to home~~). A house is the building.
Similarhome, dwelling, residence
Note
2
parliament chambernouncountable or uncountable
A group of people who meet to make a country's laws, or the building where they meet.
The house voted to pass the new law.
Both houses must agree before a bill can become law.
UsageSay the lower house or the House.
Similarchamber, assembly
Note
3
noununcountable
How big and how good the place where someone lives is.
They bought more house than they needed, and now they can't pay the bills.
For the same money, you get a lot more house outside the city.
UsageSay too much house, meaning a home too big or costly.
Similarspace
Note
4
keep insideverbtransitive
To keep or store something inside a building or container.
The museum houses thousands of ancient coins.
They built a shed to house the garden tools.
UsageOften is housed in a building.
Similarhold, contain, store, accommodate, keep
Note
5
nouncountable or uncountable
A building used for a special purpose, not for living in.
They held the ceremony in the old meeting house.
The custom house stood near the docks.
UsagePut the purpose word first: carriage house or engine house.
Similarbuilding
Note
6
nouncountable or uncountable
A public place to eat, drink, stay, or have fun, like a bar, inn, or casino, or the people running it.
The house does not allow smoking at the poker tables.
The house serves breakfast until noon on weekends.
UsageA drink on the house is free.
Similarestablishment, venue
Note
7
firmnouncountable or uncountable
A company or business, especially one that prints, publishes, or makes fashion.
Her novel was picked up by a major publishing house.
The fashion house released its spring collection in Paris.
UsageSay publishing house or fashion house.
Similarfirm, company, business
Note
8
nouncountable or uncountable
All the people who live together in one home.
The whole house was asleep by the time he got home.
The whole house came down with the flu that week.
UsageSay the whole house woke up.
Similarhousehold, family, home
Note
9
adjective
Made, served, or owned by a restaurant, bar, club, or other business as its own.
I'll have the salad with the house dressing, please.
The house special tonight is fish tacos.
UsageSay house wine or the house special.
Similarresident
Note
10
verbtransitive
To let someone live somewhere or give them a place to stay.
The shelter houses dozens of families each winter.
They agreed to house the refugees until permanent homes were found.
UsageOften passive: families were housed in hotels.
Similarshelter, accommodate, lodge, board, quarter
11
nouncountable or uncountable
A container or part that holds and protects another thing.
Similarcasing, case, enclosure, shell

Less common meanings

12
dynastynouncountable or uncountable
A royal or noble family, including its ancestors and children.
The House of Tudor ruled England for over a hundred years.
She came from an ancient noble house.
UsageSay the House of + family name.
Similardynasty, family, line, lineage, clan
Note
13
dance musicnoununcountable
A kind of electronic dance music with a steady, repeating beat.
Like a steady beat you can clap along to without it ever stopping.
They danced all night to house at the club.
His playlist is full of house and other dance music.
UsageSay house music.
Note
14
audiencenouncountable or uncountable
All the people watching a show in a theater.
The whole house laughed at the comedian's joke.
By eight o'clock the house was full and the show began.
UsageBring the house down means get huge applause.
Similaraudience, crowd
Note
15
school teamnouncountable or uncountable
A team that students belong to at school, used for sports and other contests.
Like a team color you are put on at summer camp and cheer for all year.
Our house won the swimming cup again this year.
She was proud to be chosen as house captain.
16
nouncountable or uncountable
A shelter, den, or shell that protects an animal.
A snail carries its house on its back.
The hermit crab found a new house among the empty shells.
Similarshell, den, shelter
17
pretend gamenoununcountable
A game where children act out being a family at home.
Like pretending to be a grown-up family, with one kid as the parent and another as the baby.
The kids spent the afternoon playing house in the backyard.
She always wanted to be the mom when they played house.
UsageSay play house.
Note
18
verbintransitive
To stay somewhere for shelter or rest.
You shall not house with me.
c. 1591, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”Here, house means to stay or live.
Similarlodge, stay, dwell, shelter, board
Note
19
verbtransitive
To hold one part of a thing in place so the whole sits correctly.
These grooves house each plank so the floor lines up.
A notch houses the peg and keeps the joint tight.
Similarseat, hold
Note
20
astrologynouncountable or uncountable
One of the twelve parts of a star chart, each standing for an area of life like money, love, or work.
Like twelve slices of a pie, where each slice covers a different part of someone's life.
The astrologer said my career falls in the tenth house.
Each house on the chart points to a different part of your life.
Note
21
eat fastverbslangCanadaUStransitive
To eat something very fast and finish all of it.
Like a hungry dog gulping down its dinner in seconds.
He housed three burgers before the movie started.
We can house a whole pizza after practice.
UsageUsed with a whole dish or large amount of food: house a whole pizza.
Similardevour, wolf, scarf, gobble, inhale
Note
22
curlingnouncountable or uncountable
In curling, the round target on the ice where teams score points.
Like the bullseye and rings on a dartboard, but drawn on the ice.
Her stone slid right into the center of the house.
Both teams had rocks sitting inside the house.
Note
23
end zonenounslangcountable or uncountable
In football, the end area where a team scores a touchdown.
He broke free and took the ball all the way to the house.
The runner raced sixty yards to the house.
UsageSay take it to the house.
24
nounfigurativelycountable or uncountable
A place where someone can rest and feel calm.
Similarhaven, refuge, sanctuary, abode
Note
25
nouncountable or uncountable
A game of chance played with numbered cards and called-out numbers, also known as bingo.
Similarbingo, lotto
26
verbtransitive
To put something away safely, or take it down and make it secure.
The crew housed the topmast before the storm hit.
Before the storm hit, the captain told the crew to house the guns and lash them down.
Similarstow, secure
Note
27
sudokunouncountable or uncountable
In sudoku, a line or box of cells that must hold each number just once.
Each house in the puzzle needs all nine digits.
She checked every house to make sure no number repeated.
Note
28
shelter for poornounhistoricalcountable or uncountable
In the past, a place where poor people lived and worked in return for food and shelter.
When the old man could no longer work, he had to go into the house, where the poor broke stones for bread.
To this the pauper replied that he did not want that, and that rather than be sent to the house he would look out for work.
1834, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Reports from the CommissionersHere, the house means the workhouse, where poor people worked for food and shelter.
Similarworkhouse, poorhouse
Note
29
nounHong Kong
An apartment building that is part of a public housing area.
30
noun
The fourth card in a Lenormand fortune-telling deck.
31
nounarchaic
The square where a chess piece belongs.
32
noundialectalUS
A little group of trees standing in wet land.
33
verb
In astrology, to be in one of the twelve parts of a chart.
34
verbobsolete
To make people or animals go inside for cover.
Euen now we hous'd him in the Abbey heere
c. 1594, William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”
35
verbobsolete
To put something in the ground and cover it.
Oh! can your counsel his despair defer , Who now is housed in his sepulchre
1636, G[eorge] S[andys], A Paraphrase upon the Psalmes of David

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of house apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–3, 5–9, 11–12, 14–17, 20, 22–25, 27–28

It comes from Old English "hūs," meaning a house or shelter. This came from older Germanic words, and maybe from a root meaning "to cover or hide."

Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

House comes from Old English hūs, meaning house or shelter. en.wiktionary.org
Old English hūs descends from older Germanic forms. en.wiktionary.org
The word may ultimately derive from a root meaning cover or hide. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 4, 10, 18–19, 21, 26

This verb comes from Old English "hūsian," meaning "to house," which came from the noun "house."

Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

The verb house descends from Old English hūsian. en.wiktionary.org
Old English hūsian meant to house. en.wiktionary.org
The verb derives from the noun house. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 13

It probably comes from The Warehouse, a nightclub in Chicago where this music became popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

The name house probably derives from The Warehouse. preservationchicago.org
The Warehouse was a nightclub in Chicago. en.wikipedia.org
The developing sound became popular there earlier, during the late 1970s and early 1980s; the nightclub closed by 1982. preservationchicago.org