use-icon

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

use-icon

THE USAGE PANEL

The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.

The Panelists

open-icon

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.

scroll-icon

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.

100-words-icon

See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series!

Find out more!

open-icon

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com

hous·ing 1 (houzĭng)
Share:
n.
1.
a. Buildings or other shelters in which people live: a shortage of housing in the city.
b. A place to live; a dwelling: She came to college early to look for housing.
2. Provision of lodging or shelter: the housing of refugees; a contract that includes housing.
3. Something that covers, protects, or supports, especially:
a. A frame, bracket, or box for holding or protecting a mechanical part: a wheel housing.
b. An enclosing frame in which a shaft revolves.
4. A hole, groove, or slot in a piece of wood into which another piece is inserted.
5. A niche for a statue.
6. Nautical
a. The part of a mast that is below deck.
b. The part of a bowsprit that is inside the hull.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
hous·ing 2 (houzĭng)
Share:
n.
1. An ornamental or protective covering for a saddle.
2. often housings Trappings for a horse.

[From Middle English house, from Old French houce, from Medieval Latin hucia, hulcia, hultia, protective covering, of Germanic origin; see kel-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
house (hous)
Share:
n. pl. hous·es(houzĭz, -sĭz)
1.
a. A structure serving as a dwelling for one or more persons, especially for a family.
b. A household or family.
2. Something, such as a burrow or shell, that serves as a shelter or habitation for a wild animal.
3. A dwelling for a group of people, such as students or members of a religious community, who live together as a unit: a sorority house.
4.
a. A building that functions as the primary shelter or location of something: a carriage house; the lion house at the zoo.
b. A building devoted to a particular activity: a customs house; a house of worship.
5.
a. A facility, such as a theater or restaurant, that provides entertainment or food for the public: a movie house; the specialty of the house.
b. The seating area in such an establishment: dimmed the lights in the house to signal the start of the show.
c. The audience or patrons of such an establishment: a full house.
6.
a. A commercial firm: a brokerage house.
b. A publishing company: a house that specializes in cookbooks.
c. A gambling casino.
d. Slang A house of prostitution.
7. A residential college within a university.
8.
a. often House A legislative or deliberative assembly.
b. The hall or chamber in which such an assembly meets.
c. A quorum of such an assembly.
9. often House A family line including ancestors and descendants, especially a royal or noble family: the House of Orange.
10.
a. One of the 12 parts into which the heavens are divided in astrology.
b. The sign of the zodiac indicating the seat or station of a planet in the heavens. Also called mansion.
11. House music.
v. (houz) housed, hous·ing, hous·es
v. tr.
1. To provide living quarters for; lodge: The cottage housed ten students.
2. To shelter, keep, or store in a house or other structure: a library housing rare books.
3. To fit (something) into a socket or mortise.
4. Nautical To secure or stow safely.
v. intr.
1. To reside; dwell.
2. To take shelter.
Idioms:
like a house on fire (or afire)Informal
In an extremely speedy manner: ran away like a house on fire; tickets that sold like a house afire.
on the house
At the expense of the establishment; free: food and drinks on the house.
put (or set)(one's) house in order
To organize one's affairs in a sensible, logical way.

[Middle English hous, from Old English hūs.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.