noun · rare

workhouse

workhouse · workhouses

An institution for homeless poor people funded by the local parish, where the…An institution for homeless poor people funded by the local parish, where the able-bodied were required to work.

» He worked at a workhouse.

Meaning

3 senses

(UK, historical)An institution for homeless poor people funded by the local parish, where the able-bodied were required to work.
a poorhouse where able-bodied poor are compelled to labor
(US)A prison in which the sentence includes manual labour.
(archaic)A place of manufacture; a factory.

Examples

1 sentences

He worked at a workhouse.
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Translations

1 languages

Origin

From Middle English werkhous, from Old English weorchūs (“workshop, place of manufacture”)

From Middle English werkhous, from Old English weorchūs (“workshop, place of manufacture”), from Proto-Germanic *werkahūsą, equivalent to work + house.

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