workhouse

CEFRB2

/ˈwɜːrkhaʊs/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A place where poor people once lived and worked.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A place of manufacture; a factory.

Examples

  • In Victorian times, poor people were sent to the workhouse.

  • He worked at a workhouse.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
4
Synonyms
2

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A prison in which the sentence includes manual labour.

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

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To place (a person) in the workhouse (institution for the poor).

More examples

In context

  • "I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." / "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve.[…]"

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The destitute families had no choice but to enter the local blank to avoid starvation.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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