house

n., adj. [[t]haʊs[/t]] v. [[t]haʊz[/t]]

n. pl. hous•es [[t]ˈhaʊ zɪz[/t]] v. housed, hous•ing, adj.

1) a building in which people live; residence

2) a household

3) (often cap.) a family, including ancestors and descendants:

the House of Hapsburg[/ex]

4) a building, enclosure, or other construction for any of various purposes (usu. used in combination):

a clubhouse; a doghouse[/ex]

5) sbz a theater, concert hall, or auditorium

6) sbz the audience of a theater or the like

7) gov

a) (often cap.) a legislative or official deliberative body, esp. one branch of a bicameral legislature:

the House of Representatives[/ex]

b) the building in which such a body meets

c) a quorum of such a body

8) bus (often cap.) a commercial establishment; business firm:

a publishing house[/ex]

9) gam a gambling casino or its management

10) edu a residential hall in a college or school; dormitory

11) edu the members or residents of any such residential hall

12) inf Informal. a brothel; whorehouse

13) gam spo

Also called parish 5) the area enclosed by a circle 12 or 14 ft. (3.7 or 4.2 m) in diameter at each end of a curling rink, having the tee in the center.

14) naut. navig. Naut. any enclosed shelter above the weather deck of a vessel:

bridge house[/ex]

15) astrol. one of the 12 divisions of the celestial sphere, numbered counterclockwise from the point of the E horizon

16) house music

17) to put or receive into a house, dwelling, or shelter; lodge or harbor:

to house students in a dormitory; to house flood victims in a church[/ex]

18) to provide with a place, as to work or study:

This floor houses our executive staff[/ex]

19) to be a receptacle or repository for; hold; contain:

This casing houses the batteries[/ex]

20) to take shelter; dwell

21) of or noting a house

22) suitable for or customarily used or kept in a house:

house paint; house pets[/ex]

23) bus (of a product) made by or for a specific retailer and often sold under the store's own label

24) coo served by a restaurant as its customary brand:

the house wine[/ex]

•

- bring down the house keep house on the house

Etymology: bef. 900; ME h(o)us, OE hūs, c. OFris, OOHG, ON hūs, Go -hus (in gudhus temple) syn: house, home, residence, dwelling are terms applied to a place in which people live. house is generally applied to a structure built for one or two families or social units: a ranch house in the suburbs. home may be used of an apartment or a private house; it retains connotations of domestic comfort and family ties: Their home is full of charm and character. residence is characteristic of formal usage and often implies spaciousness and elegance: the private residence of the prime minister. dwelling is a general and neutral word (a houseboat is a floating dwelling) and therefore commonly used in legal, scientific, and other technical contexts, as in a lease or in the phrases multiple dwelling, single-family dwelling.