: going or done by going from one building to the next
house-to-house fighting

Examples of house-to-house in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The killings emphasized the dangers hostages face in areas of house-to-house combat like Shijaiyah, where nine soldiers were killed last week in one of the war's deadliest days for Israeli ground forces. Julia Frankel, arkansasonline.com, 17 Dec. 2023 The epicenter of the fighting, bombardment, and chaos is in Khan Yunis, where Israel’s ground operation entered its eighth day since the collapse of the cease-fire, and where Israeli forces engaged in house-to-house combat with Hamas. Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Dec. 2023 Policy experts predict an invasion would result in brutal house-to-house fighting and high civilian casualties. Mallory Moench, TIME, 15 Oct. 2023 Israeli forces will need to engage in house-to-house urban combat against an enemy that is well prepared and committed to making invaders pay for each inch. Daniel Byman and Seth G. Jones, Foreign Affairs, 14 Oct. 2023 Israel’s tactics have always been to move fast, control as much territory as possible, but avoid street-to-street, house-to-house fighting where a weaker opponent can take full advantage of the terrain. Ben Wedeman, CNN, 10 Oct. 2023 The Vermont State Police conducted a house-to-house canvass of the area near the Rail Trail Thursday night but did not locate anyone. Louis Casiano, Fox News, 6 Oct. 2023 Before attacking Russians in a village, Ukrainians fight to control the elevated positions on the flanks, hoping to make the Russian positions untenable and limit the house-to-house fighting. Marc Santora Tyler Hicks, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2023 The firestorm decimated the street, burning right down to the edge of the Pacific Ocean, a grasslands wildfire that became a house-to-house urban inferno. Thomas Fuller, New York Times, 10 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'house-to-house.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1844, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of house-to-house was in 1844

Dictionary Entries Near house-to-house

Cite this Entry

“House-to-house.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/house-to-house. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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