house

1 /'haUs/ plural houses /'haUziz/ noun (C)

1 WHERE YOU LIVE

a) a building that you live in, especially one that has more than one level and is intended to be used by one family: a four bedroom house | Why don't you all come over to our house for coffee? | set up house (=start to live in a house, especially with another person) | move house BrE (=leave your house and go to live in another one)

b) all the people who live in a house: He gets up at six and disturbs the whole house.

2 keep house to do all the cooking, cleaning etc in a house

3 LARGE BUILDING

a) opera house/court house etc a large public building used for a particular purpose

b) House used in the names of office buildings: Longman House, Harlow, Essex

4 hen house/coach house/storehouse etc a building used for keeping animals, goods, equipment etc in

5 COMPANY a company, especially one that produces books, lends money, or designs clothes: America's oldest publishing house | the House of Dior

6 in house if you work in house, you work at the offices of a company or organization, not at home

7 put/set your own house in order if someone should put or set their own house in order, they should improve the way they behave before criticizing other people

8 get on like a house on fire informal to quickly have a very friendly relationship with someone

9 PARLIAMENT a group of people who make the laws of a country: The President will address both houses of Congress. | the house (=the house of Commons or Lords in Britain, or the house of representatives in the US)

—see also: Lower House, Upper House

10 this house formal used to mean the people who are voting in a formal debate when you are stating the proposal that is being discussed

11 IN A SCHOOL a group of children of different ages at the same school which competes against other groups in the school, for example in sports competitions

12 THEATRE

a) the part of a theatre, cinema etc where people sit: full/packed/empty house (=a large or small audience): The show has been playing to packed houses since it opened.

—see also: house lights

b) the people who have come to watch a performance; audience

c) a performance that is one of a series during the day

13 be on the house if drinks or meals are on the house you do not have to pay for them because they are provided free by the owner of the bar, restaurant etc

14 house wine ordinary wine that is provided by a restaurant to be drunk with meals: A glass of house red, please.

15 go all round the houses BrE to go through an unnecessarily complicated process in order to do something or answer something

16 ROYAL FAMILY an important family, especially a royal family: the House of Windsor

—see also: council house, eat sb out of house and home eat (4), open house, public house, (as) safe as houses safe 1 (5)

17 bring the house down to make a lot of people laugh, especially when you are acting in a theatre

2 verb (T)

1 to provide someone with a place to live: The refugees are being housed in temporary accommodation.

2 if a building houses something, it is kept there: The library is currently housed in the British Museum.