workhouse

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈwɜːkˌhaʊs/US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(wûrk′hous′)

Inflections of 'workhouse' (n): npl: workhouses

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
work•house  (wûrk′hous′),USA pronunciation n., pl. -hous•es 
    (-hou′ziz).USA pronunciation 
  1. a house of correction.
  2. British Terms(formerly) a poorhouse in which paupers were given work.
  3. [Obs.]a workshop.
  • Middle English werkhous, Old English weorchūs workshop. See work, house bef. 1100

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
workhouse /ˈwɜːkˌhaʊs/ n
  1. (formerly in England) an institution maintained at public expense where poor people did unpaid work in return for food and accommodation
  2. (in the US) a prison for petty offenders serving short sentences at manual labour
'workhouse' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Arden - overseer - pogey

🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "workhouse" in the title:


Look up "workhouse" at Merriam-Webster
Look up "workhouse" at dictionary.com
  • Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.

In other languages: Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | German | Dutch | Swedish | Russian | Polish | Czech | Greek | Turkish | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | Arabic

Advertisements
Advertisements
Report an inappropriate ad.
WordReference.com
WORD OF THE DAY
GET THE DAILY EMAIL!

Become a WordReference Supporter to view the site ad-free.