housing
Pluralhousings (some meanings)
Pluralhousings (some meanings)
- 1Houses, apartments, and other places where people live, thought of as a group.
The city needs more affordable housing for young families.
Rising prices have made housing hard to find near the coast.
UsageSay more housing or cheap housing. To count places, use homes.
Similarhomes, accommodation, dwellings
- 2The act of giving people a place to live, or of putting something inside a cover.
The charity focuses on the housing of families who lost their homes.
Careful housing of the chemicals keeps everyone in the lab safe.
UsageUsually the housing of people or things.
Similaraccommodation, lodging
Note
- 3Present participle and gerund of house. Use this form for giving people or things a place to stay.
The shelter is housing many families this winter.
Housing all the guests took two extra rooms.
UsageSay housing the guests, or the housing of the guests.
- 4A hard case that holds and protects a part of a machine.
Like a case around a phone that keeps the parts inside safe.
The fan's plastic housing cracked when it fell off the shelf.
A metal housing keeps dust away from the motor.
UsageOften after a machine part: a fan housing.
Less common meanings
- 5A space cut into one solid piece so that part of another piece can fit inside.
- 6A decorated cloth placed over a horse's saddle, often for show or for military display.
- 7A small hollow space in a wall made to hold a statue.
- 8The part of a ship's mast below deck, or the part of its bowsprit inside the ship.
- 9An added part attached to a horse's harness or its collar.
- 10A thin rope used on a ship for tying or binding small things together.
Showing meanings only.
housing is a form of house
house, verb: To keep or store something inside a building or container. Full entry
- Spelling
- house → housing: drop the e, add -ing
Practice
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Origins
From the Middle English word "housynge," from "housen" meaning "to house or shelter," made from "house" plus "-ing."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Housing derives from Middle English housynge, from housen. en.wiktionary.org
- Middle English housen meant to house or shelter. en.wiktionary.org
- Housing is formed from house plus -ing. en.wiktionary.org
From "house" plus "-ing."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Housing derives from house plus -ing. en.wiktionary.org