Meaning & use
housemen
Last updated
“housemen” is a form of “houseman”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounpluralBritishold-fashioned
Junior doctors working in a hospital, especially in Britain in the past, usually living in hospital accommodation.
Grammar: This is the plural of "houseman"; use it with a plural verb: housemen were on duty.
Patterns
- housemen at a hospital
- work as a houseman
In the 1960s, housemen at British hospitals often slept in rooms on the ward floor.
The senior consultant left the routine checks to the housemen.
Two housemen were called in during the night to admit new patients.
nounpluralold-fashioned
Male servants who look after a house or hotel, doing cleaning, carrying, and small repairs.
Grammar: Plural of "houseman"; it refers to men, so use "housekeepers" or "staff" if you mean both men and women.
Patterns
- housemen at a hotel
- employ housemen
The housemen kept the corridors clean and carried guests' bags.
In those days, the big house had housemen as well as maids.
The hotel still lists housemen among its maintenance staff.
Word forms
| singular | houseman |
|---|
Common combinations
- hospital housemen
- The hospital housemen worked long shifts with little sleep.
- a team of housemen
- A team of housemen handled the evening admissions.
- housemen on duty
- The housemen on duty were paged at three in the morning.
- work as a houseman
- She worked as a houseman before specializing in surgery.
- hotel housemen
- Hotel housemen deliver luggage and help with repairs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- intern
- Used in American English for a first-year doctor in a hospital; "houseman" is the older British word for a similar role.
- resident
- A doctor who lives and works at a hospital, especially in the US; it can cover more senior training years than "houseman".
- housekeeper
- A person employed to clean and run a house or hotel; it does not suggest a doctor and is used for both men and women.
Word family
Commonly confused: housemen or housemaid? housemen or housemate?
housemen vs housemaid
A housemaid is a female servant who cleans rooms; a houseman is either a male servant or, in older British use, a junior doctor.
housemen vs housemate
A housemate is someone you share a house with, not someone employed there or working in a hospital.
Practice
In older British hospitals, what were housemen?
Choose one answer.
"Houseman" was the old British term for a junior hospital doctor, so housemen were junior doctors. The cleaning option describes servants, not the medical meaning, and consultants are senior, not junior.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “housemen”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.