outhouse

noun

out·​house ˈau̇t-ˌhau̇s 

plural outhouses ˈau̇t-ˌhau̇-zəz 

 also  -səz

: outbuilding

… barns, stables, and other outhouses …

—Wayne R. LaFave and Austin W. Scott, Jr.

especially : privy sense 1a

They lived in an off-the-grid cabin with an out-door kitchen and an outhouse.

—Diane Daniel

Royal Cove's official outhouse didn't have a name, so we dubbed it Maggie's Loo, in honor of Princess Margaret of Great Britain.

—John Vigor

He calls an outhouse a toilet, because the only toilets his family had while he was growing up were outhouses.

—David Owen

Examples of outhouse in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

His father was not a provider, although his mother was imaginative and resourceful in a two-room shack with a natural spring for water and an outhouse. —Arkansas Online, 26 Apr. 2025

As a franchise and team these guys have moved us from the outhouse to the penthouse--and along with that brought the beautiful qualities of our City to the forefront. —Tim Graham, New York Times, 2 May 2025

The bathroom was an outhouse, the kitchen an open-air communal space. —Lauren Vuong, Mercury News, 19 Apr. 2025

To celebrate the fact that spring has arrived, and with it, nine hours of sunlight a day compared to just five and a half, visitors partake in a reindeer sausage eating contest, hockey and snow sculpture tournaments, and world champion sled dog and outhouse races, to name but a few of its events. —Gregory Wakeman, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for outhouse

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

Kids Definition

outhouse

noun

out·​house ˈau̇t-ˌhau̇s 

: outbuilding

especially : privy entry 2 sense 1