Meaning & use
country house
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Meanings
nouncountableBritish
A large, usually old and impressive house in the countryside, traditionally owned by a wealthy or landowning family.
Grammar: Plural is country houses: several country houses are open to visitors.
Patterns
- a country house hotel
- a country house in Somerset
The family's country house has forty rooms and a walled garden.
We spent the weekend at a country house hotel in the Cotswolds.
Many English country houses now belong to charitable trusts.
nouncountable
Any house in a rural area, especially one used as a second home for weekends and holidays.
Grammar: Often a second home: they keep a country house and a city flat.
Patterns
- buy a country house
- a country house near the lake
They sold their city flat and moved to a small country house.
Her uncle keeps a country house for summer weekends.
Word forms
| plural | country houses |
|---|
Common combinations
- country house hotel
- The wedding took place at a country house hotel with lake views.
- stately country house
- A stately country house stood at the end of the long drive.
- country house party
- The novel opens with a country house party in the 1920s.
- restore a country house
- The couple spent years trying to restore a crumbling country house.
- open a country house to the public
- The owners opened the country house to the public each summer.
Synonyms and how they differ
- manor house
- A manor house is a specific kind of old country house that was once the centre of a medieval estate, so it sounds more historical.
- stately home
- A stately home is a grand country house that is usually open to visitors, so it suggests size and public interest.
- mansion
- A mansion is any very large house and need not be in the countryside, whereas a country house is defined by its rural setting.
- cottage
- A cottage is small and modest, which is the opposite scale to a typical country house.
Opposites
Word family
- country noun
- land outside towns and cities
- countryside noun
- rural land and scenery
- country club noun
- a private club with sports and social facilities
Commonly confused: country house or town house?
country house vs town house
A town house is a tall terraced home in a town or city, while a country house is in the countryside.
Practice
A large old house on an estate in rural England, often open to visitors, is best called a ...
Choose one answer.
A country house is a large rural home. A bedsit is one rented room, a bungalow has one floor, and a terrace is a row of joined houses.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “country house”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.