courthouse

noun

court·​house ˈkȯrt-ˌhau̇s 

1

a

: a building in which courts of law are regularly held

b

: the principal building in which county offices are housed

2

: county seat

Examples of courthouse in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

At Hill Street bar, close to the downtown criminal courthouse where McKinney has built his career, supporters swayed to smooth jazz and Top 40 radio hits, nursing cocktails and betraying no reaction to the dismal early returns. — Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2026

Firearms cannot be brought into polling places located inside private property that forbids them, a school, a courthouse or any other location where Pennsylvania law prohibits carrying firearms. — Garrett Behanna, CBS News, 3 Nov. 2026

Evanoff, 19, was scheduled to appear in an uptown Charlotte courthouse Thursday, where Judge Keith Smith would have weighed the evidence against him and determined whether there was enough probable cause for the case to move forward. — Julia Coin, Charlotte Observer, 3 Nov. 2026

Employees have become burned out and morally conflicted as their focus has shifted from pursuing drug smugglers and human traffickers to apprehending asylum seekers in courthouses and arresting day laborers at their worksites. — Francisco Cantú, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for courthouse

• alehouse
• almshouse
• backhouse
• baghouse
• bakehouse
• bathhouse
• bauhaus
• blockhouse
• boathouse
• brewhouse
• bunkhouse
• clubhouse

Kids Definition

courthouse

noun

court·​house ˈkō(ə)rt-ˌhau̇s 

ˈkȯ(ə)rt-

: a building in which courts of law are held or county offices are located

Legal Definition

courthouse

noun

court·​house

: a building in which court is regularly held