long house

or longhouse

noun

a communal dwelling, especially of the Iroquois and various other North American Indian peoples, consisting of a wooden, bark-covered framework often as much as 100 feet (30.5 meters) in length.

Origin of long house

First recorded in 1615–25

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use long house in a sentence

Not a soul was abroad in the midday heat, and the windows of the long house opposite were sightless.
Richard Carvel, Complete | Winston Churchill
The lights shone out from a low, long house as the car stopped under a portico.
Mavis of Green Hill | Faith Baldwin
Can we see any improvement in this rough cottage over the Indian long house?
American Inventions and Inventors | William A. Mowry
The long house, in ruins, rang with the frantic wailing of four fierce nations.
The Little Red Foot | Robert W. Chambers
The main body was at the long house, far back among the hills.
The Grey Cloak | Harold MacGrath

British Dictionary definitions for long house

long house

noun

a long communal dwelling of the Iroquois and other North American Indian peoples. It often served as a council house as well
a long dwelling found in other parts of the world, such as Borneo

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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