Definitions for Workhouse
ˈwɜrkˌhaʊs; -ˌhaʊ zɪzwork·house

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. workhousenoun

   a poorhouse where able-bodied poor are compelled to labor

2. workhousenoun

   a county jail that holds prisoners for periods up to 18 months

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. workhousenoun

   formerly, an institution for the poor homeless, funded by the local parish where the able-bodied were required to work

2. workhousenoun

   a prison in which the sentence includes manual labour

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Workhouse, Workinghousenoun

   Etymology: from work and house.

   1. A place in which any manufacture is carried on.

   The quick forge and workinghouse of thought. William Shakespeare, H. V.

   Protogenes had his workhouse in a garden out of town, where he was daily finishing those pieces he begun. Dryden.

   2. A place where idlers and vagabonds are condemned to labour.

   Hast thou suffered at any time by vagabonds and pilferers? Esteem and promote those useful charities which remove such pests into prisons and workhouses. Francis Atterbury.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Workhouse

   In Britain, a workhouse (Welsh: tloty) was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term workhouse is from 1631, in an account by the mayor of Abingdon reporting that "we have erected wthn [sic] our borough a workhouse to set poorer people to work".The origins of the workhouse can be traced to the Statute of Cambridge 1388, which attempted to address the labour shortages following the Black Death in England by restricting the movement of labourers, and ultimately led to the state becoming responsible for the support of the poor. However, mass unemployment following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the introduction of new technology to replace agricultural workers in particular, and a series of bad harvests, meant that by the early 1830s the established system of poor relief was proving to be unsustainable. The New Poor Law of 1834 attempted to reverse the economic trend by discouraging the provision of relief to anyone who refused to enter a workhouse. Some Poor Law authorities hoped to run workhouses at a profit by utilising the free labour of their inmates. Most were employed on tasks such as breaking stones, crushing bones to produce fertiliser, or picking oakum using a large metal nail known as a spike. As the 19th century wore on, workhouses increasingly became refuges for the elderly, infirm, and sick rather than the able-bodied poor, and in 1929 legislation was passed to allow local authorities to take over workhouse infirmaries as municipal hospitals. Although workhouses were formally abolished by the same legislation in 1930, many continued under their new appellation of Public Assistance Institutions under the control of local authorities. It was not until the introduction of the National Assistance Act 1948 that the last vestiges of the Poor Law finally disappeared, and with them the workhouses.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. workhouse

   A workhouse is a public institution where people who are poor or unemployed are given work and provided with accommodation. It was historically used especially in the UK during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Workhousenoun

   a house where any manufacture is carried on; a workshop

2. Workhousenoun

   a house in which idle and vicious persons are confined to labor

3. Workhousenoun

   a house where the town poor are maintained at public expense, and provided with labor; a poorhouse

4. Etymology: [AS. weorchs.]

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Workhouse

   In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment. The earliest known use of the term dates from 1631, in an account by the mayor of Abingdon reporting that "wee haue erected wthn our borough a workehouse to sett poore people to worke". The origins of the workhouse can be traced to the Poor Law Act of 1388, which attempted to address the labour shortages following the Black Death in England by restricting the movement of labourers, and ultimately led to the state becoming responsible for the support of the poor. But mass unemployment following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the introduction of new technology to replace agricultural workers in particular, and a series of bad harvests, meant that by the early 1830s the established system of poor relief was proving to be unsustainable. The New Poor Law of 1834 attempted to reverse the economic trend by discouraging the provision of relief to anyone who refused to enter a workhouse. Some Poor Law authorities hoped to run workhouses at a profit by utilising the free labour of their inmates, who generally lacked the skills or motivation to compete in the open market. Most were employed on tasks such as breaking stones, bone crushing to produce fertilizer, or picking oakum using a large metal nail known as a spike, perhaps the origin of the workhouse's nickname.

Matched Categories

1. • Jail
   • Poorhouse

Anagrams for Workhouse »

1. housework

How to pronounce Workhouse?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Workhouse in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Workhouse in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Workhouse in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=Workhouse
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Workhouse
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=Workhouse
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workhouse
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Workhouse
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=Workhouse