workhouse
Meanings
noun
- An institution for homeless poor people funded by the local parish, where the able-bodied were required to work.
- A prison in which the sentence includes manual labour.
- A place of manufacture; a factory.
verb
- To place (a person) in the workhouse (institution for the poor).
Word forms
Etymology
From Middle English werkhous, from Old English weorchūs (“workshop, place of manufacture”), from Proto-Germanic *werkahūsą, equivalent to work + house.
Synonyms
Related words
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