Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

house       (hous)  Pronunciation Key  n.   pl. hous·es (hou'zĭz, -sĭz) A structure serving as a dwelling for one or more persons, especially for a family. A household or family. A facility, such as a theater or restaurant, that provides entertainment or food for the public: a movie house; the specialty of the house. The audience or patrons of such an establishment: a full house. A commercial firm: a brokerage house. A publishing company: a house that specializes in cookbooks. A gambling casino. Slang A house of prostitution. often House A legislative or deliberative assembly. The hall or chamber in which such an assembly meets. A quorum of such an assembly. One of the 12 parts into which the heavens are divided in astrology. The sign of the zodiac indicating the seat or station of a planet in the heavens. Also called mansion. Something, such as a burrow or shell, that serves as a shelter or habitation for a wild animal. A dwelling for a group of people, such as students or members of a religious community, who live together as a unit: a sorority house. A building that functions as the primary shelter or location of something: a carriage house; the lion house at the zoo. A facility, such as a theater or restaurant, that provides entertainment or food for the public: a movie house; the specialty of the house. The audience or patrons of such an establishment: a full house. A commercial firm: a brokerage house. A publishing company: a house that specializes in cookbooks. A gambling casino. Slang A house of prostitution. often House A legislative or deliberative assembly. The hall or chamber in which such an assembly meets. A quorum of such an assembly. One of the 12 parts into which the heavens are divided in astrology. The sign of the zodiac indicating the seat or station of a planet in the heavens. Also called mansion. A commercial firm: a brokerage house. A publishing company: a house that specializes in cookbooks. A gambling casino. Slang A house of prostitution. often House A legislative or deliberative assembly. The hall or chamber in which such an assembly meets. A quorum of such an assembly. One of the 12 parts into which the heavens are divided in astrology. The sign of the zodiac indicating the seat or station of a planet in the heavens. Also called mansion. A residential college within a university. often House A legislative or deliberative assembly. The hall or chamber in which such an assembly meets. A quorum of such an assembly. One of the 12 parts into which the heavens are divided in astrology. The sign of the zodiac indicating the seat or station of a planet in the heavens. Also called mansion. often House A family line including ancestors and descendants, especially a royal or noble family: the House of Orange. One of the 12 parts into which the heavens are divided in astrology. The sign of the zodiac indicating the seat or station of a planet in the heavens. Also called mansion. House music. v.   (houz) housed, hous·ing, hous·es v.   tr. To provide living quarters for; lodge: The cottage housed ten students. To shelter, keep, or store in or as if in a house: a library housing rare books. To contain; harbor. To fit into a socket or mortise. Nautical To secure or stow safely. v.   intr. To reside; dwell. To take shelter. [Middle English hous, from Old English hūs.]

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

House, Edward Mandell Known as "Colonel House." 1858-1938.   American diplomat and adviser to President Woodrow Wilson. He organized U.S. preparations for the Paris Peace Conference of 1919.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

House, Son Originally Eddie James House. 1902-1988.   American singer and guitarist. During the 1940s he made many blues recordings for the Library of Congress.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
house 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

house
noun
1.	a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families; "he has a house on Cape Cod"; "she felt she had to get out of the house"
2.	the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a brokerage house" [syn: firm]
3.	the members of a religious community living together
4.	the audience gathered together in a theatre or cinema; "the house applauded"; "he counted the house"
5.	an official assembly having legislative powers; "a bicameral legislature has two houses"
6.	aristocratic family line; "the House of York"
7.	play in which children take the roles of father or mother or children and pretend to interact like adults; "the children were playing house"
8.	(astrology) one of 12 equal areas into which the zodiac is divided [syn: sign of the zodiac]
9.	the management of a gambling house or casino; "the house gets a percentage of every bet"
10.	a social unit living together; "he moved his family to Virginia"; "It was a good Christian household"; "I waited until the whole house was asleep"; "the teacher asked how many people made up his home" [syn: family]
11.	a building where theatrical performances or motion-picture shows can be presented; "the house was full" [syn: theater]
12.	a building in which something is sheltered or located; "they had a large carriage house"
verb
1.	contain or cover; "This box houses the gears"
2.	provide housing for; "The immigrants were housed in a new development outside the town"

American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

house

In addition to the idiom beginning with house, also see boardinghouse reach; bring down the house; clean house; eat someone out of house and home; get on (like a house afire); keep house; on the house; open house; people who live in glass houses; put one's house in order; safe as houses.

Wallstreet Words - Cite This Source - Share This

house

An organization that acts as a broker-dealer or an underwriter.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: house
Function: noun
1 a : a building (as a single or multiple family house, apartment, or hotel room) serving as living quarters and usually including the curtilage b : a building (as one's residence or a locked place of business) in which one is entitled to protection (as from warrantless searches and seizures) under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
2 a : a legislative assembly esp. that constitutes a division of a bicameral body houses shall be determined by yeas and nays —U.S. Constitution article I> b : the building or chamber where such an assembly meets c : a quorum of such an assembly

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

House Springs, MO Zip code(s): 63051

White House Station, NJ (CDP, FIPS 80720) Location: 40.61620 N, 74.77242 W
Population (1990): 1287 (594 housing units)
Area: 3.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

House, NM (village, FIPS 33710) Location: 34.64797 N, 103.90328 W
Population (1990): 85 (54 housing units)
Area: 2.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 88121

Bee House, TX Zip code(s): 76525

Spring House, PA (CDP, FIPS 73264) Location: 40.18363 N, 75.22642 W
Population (1990): 2782 (1026 housing units)
Area: 6.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 19477

Red House, WV Zip code(s): 25168

Red House, VA Zip code(s): 23963

Pacific House, CA Zip code(s): 95726

Oregon House, CA Zip code(s): 95962

White House, TN (city, FIPS 80200) Location: 36.46324 N, 86.66781 W
Population (1990): 2987 (1122 housing units)
Area: 19.2 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 37188

Halfway House, PA (CDP, FIPS 32024) Location: 40.28186 N, 75.64365 W
Population (1990): 1415 (531 housing units)
Area: 5.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

Charlotte Court House, VA (town, FIPS 14936) Location: 37.05424 N, 78.63845 W
Population (1990): 531 (222 housing units)
Area: 10.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

Cape May Court House, NJ (CDP, FIPS 10300) Location: 39.07990 N, 74.82389 W
Population (1990): 4426 (1859 housing units)
Area: 23.2 sq km (land), 0.3 sq km (water)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

House

House\, n.; pl. Houses. [OE. hous, hus, AS. h?s; akin to OS. & OFries. h?s, D. huis, OHG. h?s, G. haus, Icel. h?s, Sw. hus, Dan. huus, Goth. gudh?s, house of God, temple; and prob. to E. hide to conceal. See Hide, and cf. Hoard, Husband, Hussy, Husting.]

1. A structure intended or used as a habitation or shelter for animals of any kind; but especially, a building or edifice for the habitation of man; a dwelling place, a mansion.

Houses are built to live in; not to look on. --Bacon.

Bees with smoke and doves with noisome stench Are from their hives and houses driven away. --Shak.

2. Household affairs; domestic concerns; particularly in the phrase to keep house. See below.

3. Those who dwell in the same house; a household.

One that feared God with all his house. --Acts x. 2.

4. A family of ancestors, descendants, and kindred; a race of persons from the same stock; a tribe; especially, a noble family or an illustrious race; as, the house of Austria; the house of Hanover; the house of Israel.

The last remaining pillar of their house, The one transmitter of their ancient name. --Tennyson.

5. One of the estates of a kingdom or other government assembled in parliament or legislature; a body of men united in a legislative capacity; as, the House of Lords; the House of Commons; the House of Representatives; also, a quorum of such a body. See Congress, and Parliament.

6. (Com.) A firm, or commercial establishment.

7. A public house; an inn; a hotel.

8. (Astrol.) A twelfth part of the heavens, as divided by six circles intersecting at the north and south points of the horizon, used by astrologers in noting the positions of the heavenly bodies, and casting horoscopes or nativities. The houses were regarded as fixed in respect to the horizon, and numbered from the one at the eastern horizon, called the ascendant, first house, or house of life, downward, or in the direction of the earth's revolution, the stars and planets passing through them in the reverse order every twenty-four hours.

9. A square on a chessboard, regarded as the proper place of a piece.

10. An audience; an assembly of hearers, as at a lecture, a theater, etc.; as, a thin or a full house.

11. The body, as the habitation of the soul.

This mortal house I'll ruin, Do C[ae]sar what he can. --Shak.

12.

Usage: [With an adj., as narrow, dark, etc.] The grave. "The narrow house." --Bryant.

Note: House is much used adjectively and as the first element of compounds. The sense is usually obvious; as, house cricket, housemaid, house painter, housework.

House ant (Zo["o]l.), a very small, yellowish brown ant (Myrmica molesta), which often infests houses, and sometimes becomes a great pest.

House of bishops (Prot. Epis. Ch.), one of the two bodies composing a general convertion, the other being House of Clerical and Lay Deputies.

House boat, a covered boat used as a dwelling.

House of call, a place, usually a public house, where journeymen connected with a particular trade assemble when out of work, ready for the call of employers. [Eng.] --Simonds.

House car (Railroad), a freight car with inclosing sides and a roof; a box car.

House of correction. See Correction.

House cricket (Zo["o]l.), a European cricket (Gryllus domesticus), which frequently lives in houses, between the bricks of chimneys and fireplaces. It is noted for the loud chirping or stridulation of the males.

House dog, a dog kept in or about a dwelling house.

House finch (Zo["o]l.), the burion.

House flag, a flag denoting the commercial house to which a merchant vessel belongs.

House fly (Zo["o]l.), a common fly (esp. Musca domestica), which infests houses both in Europe and America. Its larva is a maggot which lives in decaying substances or excrement, about sink drains, etc.

House of God, a temple or church.

House of ill fame. See Ill fame under Ill, a.

House martin (Zo["o]l.), a common European swallow (Hirundo urbica). It has feathered feet, and builds its nests of mud against the walls of buildings. Called also house swallow, and window martin.

House mouse (Zo["o]l.), the common mouse (Mus musculus).

House physician, the resident medical adviser of a hospital or other public institution.

House snake (Zo["o]l.), the milk snake.

House sparrow (Zo["o]l.), the common European sparrow (Passer domesticus). It has recently been introduced into America, where it has become very abundant, esp. in cities. Called also thatch sparrow.

House spider (Zo["o]l.), any spider which habitually lives in houses. Among the most common species are Theridium tepidariorum and Tegenaria domestica.

House surgeon, the resident surgeon of a hospital.

House wren (Zo["o]l.), the common wren of the Eastern United States (Troglodytes a["e]don). It is common about houses and in gardens, and is noted for its vivacity, and loud musical notes. See Wren.

Religious house, a monastery or convent.

The White House, the official residence of the President of the United States; -- hence, colloquially, the office of President.

To bring down the house. See under Bring.

To keep house, to maintain an independent domestic establishment.

To keep open house, to entertain friends at all times.

Syn: Dwelling; residence; abode. See Tenement.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

House

House\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Housed; p. pr. & vb. n. Housing.] [AS. h?sian.]

1. To take or put into a house; to shelter under a roof; to cover from the inclemencies of the weather; to protect by covering; as, to house one's family in a comfortable home; to house farming utensils; to house cattle.

At length have housed me in a humble shed. --Young.

House your choicest carnations, or rather set them under a penthouse. --Evelyn.

2. To drive to a shelter. --Shak.

3. To admit to residence; to harbor.

Palladius wished him to house all the Helots. --Sir P. Sidney.

4. To deposit and cover, as in the grave. --Sandys.

5. (Naut.) To stow in a safe place; to take down and make safe; as, to house the upper spars.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

House

House\, v. i. 1. To take shelter or lodging; to abide to dwell; to lodge.

You shall not house with me. --Shak.

2. (Astrol.) To have a position in one of the houses. See House, n., 8. "Where Saturn houses." --Dryden.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

House

Till their sojourn in Egypt the Hebrews dwelt in tents. They then for the first time inhabited cities (Gen. 47:3; Ex. 12:7; Heb. 11:9). From the earliest times the Assyrians and the Canaanites were builders of cities. The Hebrews after the Conquest took possession of the captured cities, and seem to have followed the methods of building that had been pursued by the Canaanites. Reference is made to the stone (1 Kings 7:9; Isa. 9:10) and marble (1 Chr. 29:2) used in building, and to the internal wood-work of the houses (1 Kings 6:15; 7:2; 10:11, 12; 2 Chr. 3:5; Jer. 22:14). "Ceiled houses" were such as had beams inlaid in the walls to which wainscotting was fastened (Ezra 6:4; Jer. 22:14; Hag. 1:4). "Ivory houses" had the upper parts of the walls adorned with figures in stucco with gold and ivory (1 Kings 22:39; 2 Chr. 3:6; Ps. 45:8). The roofs of the dwelling-houses were flat, and are often alluded to in Scripture (2 Sam. 11:2; Isa. 22:1; Matt. 24:17). Sometimes tents or booths were erected on them (2 Sam. 16:22). They were protected by parapets or low walls (Deut. 22:8). On the house-tops grass sometimes grew (Prov. 19:13; 27:15; Ps. 129:6, 7). They were used, not only as places of recreation in the evening, but also sometimes as sleeping-places at night (1 Sam. 9:25, 26; 2 Sam. 11:2; 16:22; Dan. 4:29; Job 27:18; Prov. 21:9), and as places of devotion (Jer. 32:29; 19:13).