Pronounced /haʊs/ for the noun and adjective, and /haʊz/ for the verb. The form 'houses' is pronounced /haʊzɪz/.
( housing, housed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
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.
N-COUNT
2.
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
N-SING : usu the N
3.
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.
N-COUNT : n N
4.
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.
N-COUNT : n N
5.
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.
N-IN-NAMES : n N
6.
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...
N-COUNT
7.
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.
N-COUNT : with supp
8.
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.
N-COUNT
9.
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.
ADJ : ADJ n
10.
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.
VERB : V n , V n adv / prep
11.
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...
VERB : no cont , V n
12.
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
VERB : no cont , V n
13.
see also boarding house , chapter house , clearing house , council house , doll’s house , full house , open house , opera house , public house , Wendy house , White House
14.
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.
PHRASE : V inflects
15.
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 )
PHRASE : V inflects
16.
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.
PHRASE : v-link PHR , PHR after v
17.
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...
PHRASE : V inflects