house

housenoun

A house is a building where people live, and the word also stands for the people in it, for certain companies and law-making bodies, and for the audience in a theater.

1. buildinga building made for people to live in, usually for one family

   countable [C]

   • They bought a small house with a garden.
   • Come over to my house after school.
   • Every house on the street has a red door.
   • Ana grew up in a big old house by the river.

   Collocations

   adjective + noun a big house, a small house, an old house, an empty house, a two-story house, a detached house

   verb + noun buy a house, build a house, rent a house, sell a house, clean the house, move into a house

   noun + noun house prices, house keys, house plant, house number

   preposition + noun in the house, at someone's house, inside the house, around the house, outside the house

   Synonyms residence (formal)

   Compare home (home is where you live and belong; house is the building); apartment; flat (British for apartment)

   1. aall the people who live in one house

      countable [C] usually singular [usu sing]

      • The whole house was asleep by ten.
      • Please don't wake the house.

   2. ba building, or a part of a building, built to hold or protect a particular kind of animal or thing

      • The reptile house at the zoo is warm and dark.
      • The children built a tree house in the yard.
      • Grandmother keeps her chickens in a small wooden hen house.

      Collocations

      noun + noun tree house, hen house, reptile house, guest house

2. law-making bodyone of the two groups that a parliament is divided into, or the room where its members meet

   countable [C] politics

   • The new law was passed by both houses.
   • The upper house sent the bill back with changes.
   • Members of the house voted late into the night.

   Collocations

   adjective + noun the upper house, the lower house, both houses

   noun + verb the house votes, the house passes a law, the house debates

   Synonyms chamber

   Compare parliament; congress

   For translators (sense 2)

   Cultural background Many countries have two houses of parliament; English often calls them the upper house and the lower house even when their official names are different. With a capital letter, the House usually means one particular house in the speaker's own country.

3. companya company of a particular kind, especially one that makes books, designs clothes, or sells valuable things

   countable [C] business

   • Her first novel was accepted by a small publishing house.
   • The fashion house showed its new designs in the spring.
   • The painting was sold through an auction house.

   Collocations

   noun + noun publishing house, fashion house, auction house, software house

   Synonyms company; firm

4. audiencethe people watching a play, a concert, or a film, or the part of a theater where they sit

   countable [C] theatre

   • The band played to a full house every night.
   • When the house lights went down, the crowd went quiet.
   • It was a small house, but the actors gave everything.

   Collocations

   adjective + noun a full house, a packed house, an empty house

   noun + noun house lights

   verb + noun play to a full house, fill the house

   Synonyms audience

5. restaurant or barthe people who own or run a restaurant, bar, hotel, or place where people play games for money, especially when talking about what they provide or the rules they make

   countable [C] usually singular [usu sing] often before another noun [before noun]

   • A glass of the house wine, please.
   • The bar has its own house rules about starting a tab.
   • In a card game at a casino, the house keeps a small share of every bet. (in gambling)

   Collocations

   noun + noun house wine, house rules, house band, house special

6. important familyan important family, especially one of kings, queens, or other powerful people, seen over many generations

   countable [C] formal

   • The castle belonged to a noble house for many centuries.
   • The two houses fought for years over who should be king.

   Collocations

   adjective + noun a noble house, a royal house

   noun + preposition the house of

   Synonyms family; dynasty

7. in a schoolone of the groups that the students of a school are divided into, which compete against each other in sports and other activities

   countable [C] Britisheducation

   • Each house has its own color for sports day.
   • Yuki's house won the singing contest this year.

   Collocations

   noun + noun house captain, house colors

8. musica type of electronic dance music with a fast, strong, regular beat

   uncountable [U] music

   • The club plays mostly house on Saturday nights.
   • Omar makes house tracks in his bedroom studio.

   Collocations

   noun + noun house music, house track, house beat

See also property