workhouse

noun

work·​house ˈwərk-ˌhau̇s How to pronounce workhouse (audio)
1
British : poorhouse
2
: a house of correction for persons guilty of minor law violations

Examples of workhouse in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In October, a judge stayed a 364-day sentence to the Hennepin County workhouse for two years and put him on probation. Nick Ferraro, Twin Cities, 17 Jan. 2024 From 1922 to 1996, at least 10.000 women have been imprisoned in these workhouses ran by the Catholic Church. Maëlle Beauget-Uhl, Forbes, 11 Feb. 2024 This is all happening on an island historically known for isolating people from everyone else — hospitals for the poor and infected with smallpox, a workhouse and prison, an overcrowded asylum. Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019 King is in his element with caper comedy, so there’s buoyancy in the chaotic plotting as Wonka and his workhouse cronies use an underground network of storm drains to escape the laundry and evade their increasingly murderous pursuers. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Dec. 2023 An émigré who had spent much of his childhood in poverty, including time in a London workhouse, and who had at best a fourth-grade education, Chaplin became, almost overnight, one of the most successful filmmakers in Hollywood. Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2023 These human stories unfold against a backdrop of enormous human suffering in the prisons, workhouses, brothels and streets. Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Oct. 2023 Offenders sentenced to a year or less typically serve their sentences at the workhouse, and the county has slashed admissions to its workhouse programs by nearly half over the decade. Shannon Prather, Star Tribune, 28 Nov. 2020 Oliver’s transit from the workhouse to an undertaker’s establishment to Fagin’s hide-out, spread across eight chapters in the Dickens, takes what seems like a blink of an eye here. Jesse Green, New York Times, 4 May 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'workhouse.' 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

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of workhouse was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near workhouse

Cite this Entry

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

Kids Definition

workhouse

noun
work·​house ˈwərk-ˌhau̇s How to pronounce workhouse (audio)
1
British : poorhouse
2
: a place where persons who have committed minor wrongdoings are kept

Legal Definition

workhouse

noun
work·​house
: a correctional facility for persons guilty of minor criminal violations

More from Merriam-Webster on workhouse

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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