house
♦♦♦ house (houses housing housed)
pronounced /h'aʊs/for the noun and adjective, and /h'aʊz/for the verb. The form houses is pronounced /h'aʊzɪz/
1 [N-COUNT]
A house is a building in which people live, usually the people belonging to one family.
She has moved to a smaller house.
...her parents' house in Warwickshire.
2 [N-SING] usu the N
You can refer to all the people who live together in a house as the house.
If he set his alarm clock for midnight, it would wake the whole house...
= household
3 [N-COUNT] n N
House is used in the names of types of places where people go to eat and drink.
...a steak house.
...an old Salzburg coffee house.
4 [N-COUNT] n N
House is used in the names of types of companies, especially ones which publish books, lend money, or design clothes.
Many of the clothes come from the world's top fashion houses...
Eventually she was fired from her job at a publishing house.
5 [N-IN-NAMES] n N
House is sometimes used in the names of office buildings and large private homes or expensive houses. (mainly BRIT)
I was to go to the very top floor of Bush House in Aldwych.
...Harewood House near Leeds.
6 [N-COUNT]
You can refer to the two main bodies of Britain's parliament and the United States of America's legislature as the House or a House.
Some members of the House and Senate worked all day yesterday...
7 [N-COUNT] with supp
A house is a family which has been or will be important for many generations, especially the family of a king or queen.
...the House of Windsor.
8 [N-COUNT]
The house is the part of a theatre, cinema, or other place of entertainment where the audience sits. You can also refer to the audience at a particular performance as the house.
They played in front of a packed house.
9 [ADJ] ADJ n
A restaurant's house wine is the cheapest wine it sells, which is not listed by name on the wine list.
Tweed ordered a carafe of the house wine.
10 [VERB] V n, V n adv/prep
To house someone means to provide a house or flat for them to live in.
Part III of the Housing Act 1985 imposes duties on local authorities to house homeless people...
Regrettably we have to house families in these inadequate flats.
11 [VERB] no cont, V n
A building or container that houses something is the place where it is located or from where it operates.
The château itself is open to the public and houses a museum of motorcycles and cars...
12 [VERB] no cont, V n
If you say that a building houses a number of people, you mean that is the place where they live or where they are staying.
The building will house twelve boys and eight girls...
= accommodate
13
see also boarding house, chapter house, council house, council house, doll's house,
full house, open house, public house, public house, Wendy house, White House
14 [PHRASE] V inflects
If a person or their performance or speech brings the house down, the audience claps, laughs, or shouts loudly because the performance or speech is very impressive or amusing. (INFORMAL)
It's really an amazing dance. It just always brings the house down.
15 [PHRASE] V inflects
If two people get on like a house on fire, they quickly become close friends, for example because they have many interests in common. (INFORMAL)
16 [PHRASE] v-link PHR, PHR after v
If you are given something in a restaurant or bar on the house, you do not have to pay for it.
The owner knew about the engagement and brought them glasses of champagne on the house.
17 [PHRASE] V inflects
If someone gets their house in order, puts their house in order, or sets their house in order, they arrange their affairs and solve their problems.
Some think Stempel's departure will help the company get its financial house in order...acid house
[N-UNCOUNT]
Acid house is a type of electronic dance music with a strong, repeated rhythm.board|ing house (boarding houses)
The spellings boardinghouse in American English, and boarding-house in British English are also used.
[N-COUNT]
A boarding house is a house which people pay to stay in for a short time.
= guest housechap|ter house (chapter houses)
1 [N-COUNT]
A chapter house is the building or set of rooms in the grounds of a cathedral where the members of the clergy hold their meetings.
2 [N-COUNT]
In a university or college, a chapter house is the place where a fraternity or sorority lives or meets. (AM)char|nel house /tʃ'ɑːrnəl haʊs/ (charnel houses)
[N-COUNT]
A charnel house is a place where the bodies and bones of dead people are stored.clear|ing house (clearing houses)
also clearing-house
1 [N-COUNT]
If an organization acts as a clearing house, it collects, sorts, and distributes specialized information.
The centre will act as a clearing house for research projects for former nuclear scientists.
2 [N-COUNT]
A clearing house is a central bank which deals with all the business between the banks that use its services. (BUSINESS)cof|fee house (coffee houses)
also coffee-house
[N-COUNT]
A coffee house is a kind of bar where people sit to drink coffee and talk. Coffee houses were especially popular in Britain in the 18th century.coun|cil house (council houses)
[N-COUNT]
In Britain, a council house is a house that is owned by a local council and that people can rent at a low cost.coun|try house (country houses)
[N-COUNT]
A country house is a large, often attractive, house in the country, usually one that is or was owned by a rich or noble family. (BRIT)doll's house (doll's houses)
in AM, use dollhouse
[N-COUNT]
A doll's house is a toy in the form of a small house, which contains tiny dolls and furniture for children to play with.free house (free houses)
[N-COUNT]
In Britain, a free house is a pub which is not owned by a particular company and so can sell whatever beers it chooses.full house (full houses)
[N-COUNT]
If a theatre has a full house for a particular performance, it has as large an audience as it can hold.
...playing to a full house.guest house (guest houses)
also guesthouse
1 [N-COUNT]
A guest house is a small hotel. (BRIT)
2 [N-COUNT]
A guest house is a small house in the grounds of a large house, where visitors can stay. (AM)half|way house (halfway houses)
1 [N-SING]
A halfway house is an arrangement or thing that has some of the qualities of two different things.
A halfway house between the theatre and cinema is possible. Olivier created one in his imaginative `Henry V' in 1945.
2 [N-COUNT]
A halfway house is a home for people such as former prisoners, mental patients, or drug addicts who can stay there for a limited period of time to get used to life outside prison or hospital.house ar|rest
[N-UNCOUNT] usu under N
If someone is under house arrest, they are officially ordered not to leave their home, because they are suspected of being involved in an illegal activity.house guest (house guests)
[N-COUNT]
A house guest is a person who is staying at someone's house for a period of time.house lights
[N-PLURAL] the N
In a theatre or cinema, when the house lights dim or go down, the lights where the audience sits are switched off. When the house lights come up, the lights are switched on.house of God (houses of God)
[N-COUNT]
A Christian church is sometimes referred to as a house of God.house own|er (house owners)
also house-owner
[N-COUNT]
A house owner is a person who owns a house.house par|ty (house parties)
[N-COUNT]
A house party is a party held at a big house in the country, usually at a weekend, where the guests stay for a few days.house plant (house plants)
also houseplant
[N-COUNT]
A house plant is a plant which is grown in a pot indoors.
= pot plantlodg|ing house (lodging houses)
[N-COUNT]
A lodging house is a house where people can rent rooms to live in or stay in. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use rooming house)man|or house (manor houses)
[N-COUNT]
A manor house is the main house that is or was on a medieval manor. (BRIT)meet|ing house (meeting houses)
[N-COUNT]
A meeting house is a building in which certain groups of Christians, for example Quakers, meet in order to worship together.movie house (movie houses)
[N-COUNT]
A movie house is the same as a movie theater. (AM)open house
1 [N-UNCOUNT]
If you say that someone keeps open house, you mean that they welcome friends or visitors to their house whenever they arrive and allow them to stay for as long as they want to.
Father Illtyd kept open house and the boys would congregate in his study during their recreation time, playing cards or games.
2 [N-VAR] also N n
An open house is a day on which members of the public are encouraged to visit a particular institution or place to see what it is like. (AM; in BRIT, use open day)
A week later, Sara and I attended open house at Ted's school...op|era house (opera houses)
[N-COUNT; N-IN-NAMES]
An opera house is a theatre that is specially designed for the performance of operas.
...Sydney Opera House.pack|ing house (packing houses)
[N-COUNT]
A packing house is a company that processes and packs food, especially meat, to be sold. (AM)pub|lic house (public houses)
[N-COUNT]
A public house is the same as a pub. (BRIT FORMAL)pub|lish|ing house (publishing houses)
[N-COUNT]
A publishing house is a company which publishes books.
= publisherroom|ing house (rooming houses)
[N-COUNT]
A rooming house is a building that is divided into small flats or single rooms which people rent to live in. (AM)row house /r'oʊ haʊs/ (row houses)
also rowhouse
[N-COUNT]
A row house is one of a row of similar houses that are joined together by both of their side walls. (AM; in BRIT, use terraced house)safe house (safe houses)
also safe-house
[N-COUNT]
You can refer to a building as a safe house when it is used as a place where someone can stay and be protected. Safe houses are often used by spies, criminals, or the police.
...a farm which operates as a safe house for criminals on the run.steak house (steak houses)
also steakhouse
[N-COUNT]
A steak house is a restaurant that serves mainly steaks.sum|mer house (summer houses)
also summerhouse
1 [N-COUNT]
A summer house is a small building in a garden. It contains seats, and people can sit there in the summer.
2 [N-COUNT]
Someone's summer house is a house in the country or by the sea where they spend the summer.
He visited relatives at their summer house on the river.ter|raced house (terraced houses)
[N-COUNT]
A terraced house or a terrace house is one of a row of similar houses joined together by their side walls. (BRIT; in AM, use row house)town house (town houses)
1 [N-COUNT]
A town house is a tall narrow house in a town, usually in a row of similar houses.
2 [N-COUNT] with poss
The town house of a wealthy person is the house that they own in a town or city, rather than another house that they own in the country.Wendy house (Wendy houses)
[N-COUNT]
A Wendy house is a small toy house for a child to play in. (BRIT; in AM, use playhouse)
pronounced /h'aʊs/for the noun and adjective, and /h'aʊz/for the verb. The form houses is pronounced /h'aʊzɪz/
1 [N-COUNT]
A house is a building in which people live, usually the people belonging to one family.
She has moved to a smaller house.
...her parents' house in Warwickshire.
2 [N-SING] usu the N
You can refer to all the people who live together in a house as the house.
If he set his alarm clock for midnight, it would wake the whole house...
= household
3 [N-COUNT] n N
House is used in the names of types of places where people go to eat and drink.
...a steak house.
...an old Salzburg coffee house.
4 [N-COUNT] n N
House is used in the names of types of companies, especially ones which publish books, lend money, or design clothes.
Many of the clothes come from the world's top fashion houses...
Eventually she was fired from her job at a publishing house.
5 [N-IN-NAMES] n N
House is sometimes used in the names of office buildings and large private homes or expensive houses. (mainly BRIT)
I was to go to the very top floor of Bush House in Aldwych.
...Harewood House near Leeds.
6 [N-COUNT]
You can refer to the two main bodies of Britain's parliament and the United States of America's legislature as the House or a House.
Some members of the House and Senate worked all day yesterday...
7 [N-COUNT] with supp
A house is a family which has been or will be important for many generations, especially the family of a king or queen.
...the House of Windsor.
8 [N-COUNT]
The house is the part of a theatre, cinema, or other place of entertainment where the audience sits. You can also refer to the audience at a particular performance as the house.
They played in front of a packed house.
9 [ADJ] ADJ n
A restaurant's house wine is the cheapest wine it sells, which is not listed by name on the wine list.
Tweed ordered a carafe of the house wine.
10 [VERB] V n, V n adv/prep
To house someone means to provide a house or flat for them to live in.
Part III of the Housing Act 1985 imposes duties on local authorities to house homeless people...
Regrettably we have to house families in these inadequate flats.
11 [VERB] no cont, V n
A building or container that houses something is the place where it is located or from where it operates.
The château itself is open to the public and houses a museum of motorcycles and cars...
12 [VERB] no cont, V n
If you say that a building houses a number of people, you mean that is the place where they live or where they are staying.
The building will house twelve boys and eight girls...
= accommodate
13
see also boarding house, chapter house, council house, council house, doll's house,
full house, open house, public house, public house, Wendy house, White House
14 [PHRASE] V inflects
If a person or their performance or speech brings the house down, the audience claps, laughs, or shouts loudly because the performance or speech is very impressive or amusing. (INFORMAL)
It's really an amazing dance. It just always brings the house down.
15 [PHRASE] V inflects
If two people get on like a house on fire, they quickly become close friends, for example because they have many interests in common. (INFORMAL)
16 [PHRASE] v-link PHR, PHR after v
If you are given something in a restaurant or bar on the house, you do not have to pay for it.
The owner knew about the engagement and brought them glasses of champagne on the house.
17 [PHRASE] V inflects
If someone gets their house in order, puts their house in order, or sets their house in order, they arrange their affairs and solve their problems.
Some think Stempel's departure will help the company get its financial house in order...acid house
[N-UNCOUNT]
Acid house is a type of electronic dance music with a strong, repeated rhythm.board|ing house (boarding houses)
The spellings boardinghouse in American English, and boarding-house in British English are also used.
[N-COUNT]
A boarding house is a house which people pay to stay in for a short time.
= guest housechap|ter house (chapter houses)
1 [N-COUNT]
A chapter house is the building or set of rooms in the grounds of a cathedral where the members of the clergy hold their meetings.
2 [N-COUNT]
In a university or college, a chapter house is the place where a fraternity or sorority lives or meets. (AM)char|nel house /tʃ'ɑːrnəl haʊs/ (charnel houses)
[N-COUNT]
A charnel house is a place where the bodies and bones of dead people are stored.clear|ing house (clearing houses)
also clearing-house
1 [N-COUNT]
If an organization acts as a clearing house, it collects, sorts, and distributes specialized information.
The centre will act as a clearing house for research projects for former nuclear scientists.
2 [N-COUNT]
A clearing house is a central bank which deals with all the business between the banks that use its services. (BUSINESS)cof|fee house (coffee houses)
also coffee-house
[N-COUNT]
A coffee house is a kind of bar where people sit to drink coffee and talk. Coffee houses were especially popular in Britain in the 18th century.coun|cil house (council houses)
[N-COUNT]
In Britain, a council house is a house that is owned by a local council and that people can rent at a low cost.coun|try house (country houses)
[N-COUNT]
A country house is a large, often attractive, house in the country, usually one that is or was owned by a rich or noble family. (BRIT)doll's house (doll's houses)
in AM, use dollhouse
[N-COUNT]
A doll's house is a toy in the form of a small house, which contains tiny dolls and furniture for children to play with.free house (free houses)
[N-COUNT]
In Britain, a free house is a pub which is not owned by a particular company and so can sell whatever beers it chooses.full house (full houses)
[N-COUNT]
If a theatre has a full house for a particular performance, it has as large an audience as it can hold.
...playing to a full house.guest house (guest houses)
also guesthouse
1 [N-COUNT]
A guest house is a small hotel. (BRIT)
2 [N-COUNT]
A guest house is a small house in the grounds of a large house, where visitors can stay. (AM)half|way house (halfway houses)
1 [N-SING]
A halfway house is an arrangement or thing that has some of the qualities of two different things.
A halfway house between the theatre and cinema is possible. Olivier created one in his imaginative `Henry V' in 1945.
2 [N-COUNT]
A halfway house is a home for people such as former prisoners, mental patients, or drug addicts who can stay there for a limited period of time to get used to life outside prison or hospital.house ar|rest
[N-UNCOUNT] usu under N
If someone is under house arrest, they are officially ordered not to leave their home, because they are suspected of being involved in an illegal activity.house guest (house guests)
[N-COUNT]
A house guest is a person who is staying at someone's house for a period of time.house lights
[N-PLURAL] the N
In a theatre or cinema, when the house lights dim or go down, the lights where the audience sits are switched off. When the house lights come up, the lights are switched on.house of God (houses of God)
[N-COUNT]
A Christian church is sometimes referred to as a house of God.house own|er (house owners)
also house-owner
[N-COUNT]
A house owner is a person who owns a house.house par|ty (house parties)
[N-COUNT]
A house party is a party held at a big house in the country, usually at a weekend, where the guests stay for a few days.house plant (house plants)
also houseplant
[N-COUNT]
A house plant is a plant which is grown in a pot indoors.
= pot plantlodg|ing house (lodging houses)
[N-COUNT]
A lodging house is a house where people can rent rooms to live in or stay in. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use rooming house)man|or house (manor houses)
[N-COUNT]
A manor house is the main house that is or was on a medieval manor. (BRIT)meet|ing house (meeting houses)
[N-COUNT]
A meeting house is a building in which certain groups of Christians, for example Quakers, meet in order to worship together.movie house (movie houses)
[N-COUNT]
A movie house is the same as a movie theater. (AM)open house
1 [N-UNCOUNT]
If you say that someone keeps open house, you mean that they welcome friends or visitors to their house whenever they arrive and allow them to stay for as long as they want to.
Father Illtyd kept open house and the boys would congregate in his study during their recreation time, playing cards or games.
2 [N-VAR] also N n
An open house is a day on which members of the public are encouraged to visit a particular institution or place to see what it is like. (AM; in BRIT, use open day)
A week later, Sara and I attended open house at Ted's school...op|era house (opera houses)
[N-COUNT; N-IN-NAMES]
An opera house is a theatre that is specially designed for the performance of operas.
...Sydney Opera House.pack|ing house (packing houses)
[N-COUNT]
A packing house is a company that processes and packs food, especially meat, to be sold. (AM)pub|lic house (public houses)
[N-COUNT]
A public house is the same as a pub. (BRIT FORMAL)pub|lish|ing house (publishing houses)
[N-COUNT]
A publishing house is a company which publishes books.
= publisherroom|ing house (rooming houses)
[N-COUNT]
A rooming house is a building that is divided into small flats or single rooms which people rent to live in. (AM)row house /r'oʊ haʊs/ (row houses)
also rowhouse
[N-COUNT]
A row house is one of a row of similar houses that are joined together by both of their side walls. (AM; in BRIT, use terraced house)safe house (safe houses)
also safe-house
[N-COUNT]
You can refer to a building as a safe house when it is used as a place where someone can stay and be protected. Safe houses are often used by spies, criminals, or the police.
...a farm which operates as a safe house for criminals on the run.steak house (steak houses)
also steakhouse
[N-COUNT]
A steak house is a restaurant that serves mainly steaks.sum|mer house (summer houses)
also summerhouse
1 [N-COUNT]
A summer house is a small building in a garden. It contains seats, and people can sit there in the summer.
2 [N-COUNT]
Someone's summer house is a house in the country or by the sea where they spend the summer.
He visited relatives at their summer house on the river.ter|raced house (terraced houses)
[N-COUNT]
A terraced house or a terrace house is one of a row of similar houses joined together by their side walls. (BRIT; in AM, use row house)town house (town houses)
1 [N-COUNT]
A town house is a tall narrow house in a town, usually in a row of similar houses.
2 [N-COUNT] with poss
The town house of a wealthy person is the house that they own in a town or city, rather than another house that they own in the country.Wendy house (Wendy houses)
[N-COUNT]
A Wendy house is a small toy house for a child to play in. (BRIT; in AM, use playhouse)