house

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A structure built or serving as an abode of human beings.

   “This is my house and my family's ancestral home.”

   “The big houses, and there are a good many of them, lie for the most part in what may be called by courtesy the valleys. You catch a glimpse of them sometimes at a little distance from the [railway] line, which seems to have shown some ingenuity in avoiding them,[…].”

   “Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path […]. It twisted and turned,[…]and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. And, back of the lawn, was a big, old-fashioned house, with piazzas stretching in front of it, and all blazing with lights. 'Twas the house I'd seen the roof of from the beach.”

2. (Hong-Kong, countable, uncountable)A structure built or serving as an abode of human beings.
3. (countable, uncountable)A container; a thing which houses another.

   “The purposes of food are to promote growth, to supply force and heat, and to furnish material to repair the waste which is constantly taking place in the body. Every breath, every thought, every motion, wears out some portion of the delicate and wonderful house in which we live.”

4. (uncountable)Size and quality of residential accommodations; housing.

   “Those homeowners who bought too much house, or borrowed against inflated values are now going to be liable for their own poor decisions.”

5. (countable, uncountable)A building intended to contain a single household, as opposed to an apartment or condominium or building containing these.
6. (countable, uncountable)The people who live in a house; a household.

   “one that feared God with all his house”

7. (countable, uncountable)A building used for something other than a residence (typically with qualifying word).

   “The former carriage house had been made over into a guest house.”

   “On arriving at the zoo, we immediately headed for the monkey house.”

8. (countable, uncountable)A building used for something other than a residence (typically with qualifying word).

   “A small publishing house would have a contract with an independent fulfillment house.”

   “I have a good banker in this city, but I would not wish to draw upon the house until the time when I shall draw for a round sum.”

9. (countable, uncountable)A building used for something other than a residence (typically with qualifying word).

   “One more, sir, then I'll have to stop serving you – rules of the house, I'm afraid.”

   “The house always wins.”

   “The farce comedy which followed, When We're Married by Charles Burnham, was heartily praised, with the character man singled out for special extollation. The production filled the house.”

   “Frazier and Gary worked for me for free — for six months — they didn't take any money from the house. They worked for tips.”

10. (countable, historical, uncountable)A building used for something other than a residence (typically with qualifying word).

    “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.”

11. (countable, uncountable)The audience for a live theatrical or similar performance.

    “After her swan-song, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.”

    “Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophises all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels.”

12. (countable, uncountable)A building where a deliberative assembly meets; whence the assembly itself, particularly a component of a legislature.

    “The petition was so ridiculous that the house rejected it after minimal debate.”

13. (countable, uncountable)A dynasty; a family with its ancestors and descendants, especially a royal or noble one.

    “A curse lay upon the House of Atreus.”

14. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)A place of rest or repose.

    “Like a pestilence, it doth infect / The houses of the brain.”

    “Such hate was his, when his last breath / Renounced the peaceful house of death […].”

15. (countable, uncountable)A grouping of schoolchildren for the purposes of competition in sports and other activities.

    “I was a member of Spenser house when I was at school.”

16. (countable, uncountable)An animal's shelter or den, or the shell of an animal such as a snail, used for protection.
17. (countable, uncountable)One of the twelve divisions of an astrological chart.

    “Since there was a limited number of planets, houses and signs of the zodiac, the astrologers tended to reduce human potentialities to a set of fixed types and to postulate only a limited number of possible variations.”

18. (countable, uncountable)The fourth Lenormand card.
19. (archaic, countable, uncountable)A square on a chessboard, regarded as the proper place of a piece.
20. (countable, uncountable)The four concentric circles where points are scored on the ice.
21. (countable, uncountable)Lotto; bingo.
22. (uncountable)A children's game in which the players pretend to be members of a household.

    “As the babysitter, Emma always acted as the mother whenever the kids demanded to play house.”

23. (US, countable, dialectal, uncountable)A small stand of trees in a swamp.
24. (countable, uncountable)A set of cells in a sudoku puzzle which must contain each digit exactly once, such as a row, column, or 3×3 box.
25. (countable, slang, uncountable)The end zone.
26. (uncountable)House music.

    “[…] their music is influenced as much by Roxy Music and the Ramones as it is by house and techno pioneers.”

    “And while hard, minimal techno has become increasingly influenced by house and Oval-esque "glitch" stylistics, Exos keeps it old school on Strength, infusing his own style with the force of hard techno purists Surgeon and Oliver Ho.”

    “The first genre of American dance music to become popular in the United Kingdom was Chicago house. Although music from Detroit was soon imported as well, it was often treated as subcategory of house, and for many years the most common English term for electronic dance music in general was "house" or "acid house". […] During the formative years of techno and house, the musicians involved interacted in various ways.”

verb

1. (transitive)To keep within a structure or container.

   “The car is housed in the garage.”

   “Houſe your choiceſt Carnations, or rather ſet them under a Pent-houſe againſt a South-wall, ſo as a covering being thrown over them to preſerve them in extremity of weather, they may yet enjoy the freer air at all other times.”

   “Now, covered concrete troughs to house the cables are laid parallel with the railway lines, cheapening maintenance because of improved accessibility for inspection and repair.”

2. (transitive)To admit to residence; to harbor.

   “Palladius wished him [...] to house all the Helots.”

3. To take shelter or lodging; to abide; to lodge.

   “You shall not house with me.”

   “The federation yesterday vowed to occupy Uotsuri, one of the islands, and build a permanent structure to house six members.”

4. (transitive)To dwell within one of the twelve astrological houses.

   “Where Saturn houses.”

5. (transitive)To contain or cover mechanical parts.
6. (transitive)To contain one part of an object for the purpose of locating the whole.

   “The joists were housed into the side walls, rather than being hung from them.”

7. (obsolete)To drive to a shelter.

   “Euen now we hous'd him in the Abbey heere”

8. (obsolete)To deposit and cover, as in the grave.

   “Oh! can your counsel his despair defer , Who now is housed in his sepulchre”

9. To stow in a safe place; to take down and make safe.

   “to house the upper spars”

10. (Canada, US, slang, transitive)To eat; especially, to scarf down.

    “All you wanna do is drink a fifth, house a lasagna, and hide in a dumpster until that baby stops crying.”

name

1. (US, abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable)A particular chamber of political representation

   “Prop. 50 proponents, including Newsom and Democrats in the state Legislature and in Congress, say the proposition is needed to counteract Texas’ recent redistricting efforts to give the GOP more House seats.”

2. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable)A particular chamber of political representation
3. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable)A particular chamber of political representation
4. (countable, uncountable)A particular chamber of political representation
5. (countable, uncountable)A placename:
6. (countable, uncountable)A placename:
7. (countable, uncountable)A topographic surname from Middle English for someone residing in a house (as opposed to a hut) or in a religious house.

   “The incumbent and embattled Henyard lost Tuesday’s Democratic primary to Trustee Jason House by a landslide, with House winning nearly 90% of the vote.”

8. (countable, dated, uncountable)Christ Church, Oxford.