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housing

1 American  
[hou-zing] / ˈhaʊ zɪŋ /

noun

  1. any shelter, lodging, or dwelling place.

  2. houses collectively.

  3. the act of one who houses or puts under shelter.

  4. the providing of houses for a group or community.

    the housing of an influx of laborers.

  5. anything that covers or protects.

    Synonyms:
    sheath, shield, casing, covering

  6. Machinery. a fully enclosed case and support for a mechanism.

  7. Carpentry. the space made in one piece of wood, or the like, for the insertion of another.

  8. Nautical.

    1. Also called bury.  the portion of a mast below the deck.

    2. Also called bury.  the portion of a bowsprit aft of the forward part of the stem of a vessel.

    3. the doubling of an upper mast.

  9. a niche for a statue.

housing 2 American  
[hou-zing] / ˈhaʊ zɪŋ /

noun

  1. a covering of cloth for the back and flanks of a horse or other animal, for protection or ornament.

  2. housings, the trappings on a horse.

housing 1 British  
/ ˈhaʊzɪŋ /

noun

    1. houses or dwellings collectively

    2. ( as modifier )

      a housing problem

  2. the act of providing with accommodation

  3. a hole, recess, groove, or slot made in one wooden member to receive another

  4. a part designed to shelter, cover, contain, or support a component, such as a bearing, or a mechanism, such as a pump or wheel

    a bearing housing

    a motor housing

    a wheel housing

  5. another word for houseline

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
housing 2 British  
/ ˈhaʊzɪŋ /

noun

  1. archaic (often plural) another word for trappings

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of housing1

First recorded in 1350–1400; house + -ing 1 ( def. )

Origin of housing2

First recorded in 1690–1700; compare earlier house, Middle English hous(e), houc(e) in same sense, from Old French houce, from unrecorded Germanic hulfti- (compare Medieval Latin hultia ), akin to Middle Dutch hulfte “cover for bow and arrow,” Middle High German hulft “covering”; -ing 1 added by association with house, housing 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Meanwhile, younger voters quite often mention a fourth issue, housing.

From BBC

“Additionally, TGT’s home segment is affected by the stagnant housing market and may take time to recover.”

From MarketWatch

A black child among mostly Puerto Rican neighbors in public housing in Bethlehem, Pa., young Oliver was raised by his single mother.

From The Wall Street Journal

In Baghdad, hundreds of Iraqis, many dressed in black, attempted to storm the compound housing the American embassy on Sunday despite a heavy security deployment.

From Barron's

On Saturday, a British unit based in Iraq intercepted an Iranian drone that had been heading towards a coalition base housing UK military personnel.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.