Meaning & use
houses
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“houses” is a form of “house”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounplural
Buildings in which people live, usually for one household or family.
Grammar: Plural of house: they sold two houses.
Patterns
- houses on a street
- build houses
The houses on our street all have small front gardens.
They built twenty new houses beside the river.
Many old houses in this town have slate roofs.
verbtransitive
Provides a place for people or things to live or be kept.
Grammar: Takes an object: the building houses sixty students.
Patterns
- something houses someone
- something houses something
The old factory now houses a school and a café.
This new building houses over three hundred students.
The museum houses a rare collection of maps.
nounplural
Groups or bodies of people, such as parts of a parliament, school teams or business firms.
Grammar: Plural of house in a group sense: the two houses of Congress.
Patterns
- both houses of something
- the houses of parliament
Both houses of the legislature must approve the bill.
The school's four houses compete in sports each year.
Several fashion houses showed collections in Paris.
Common combinations
- terraced houses
- The terraced houses were built in the 1900s.
- detached houses
- Detached houses cost more than flats here.
- houses a collection
- The library houses a rare collection.
- both houses
- The bill passed both houses of parliament.
- build houses
- The company plans to build houses on the hill.
Synonyms and how they differ
- homes
- Homes stresses the place where people live and feel they belong, whereas houses stresses the building.
- dwellings
- Dwellings is a formal or official word for places to live, and sounds more technical than houses.
- residences
- Residences is formal and may include large or grand houses, whereas houses is everyday.
- accommodates
- Accommodates, as a verb, stresses having enough room for people, while houses stresses providing a place to be kept.
Word family
- house noun
- the singular form for a building to live in
- housing noun
- buildings for people to live in, as a general term
- household noun
- all the people living together in one home
- housewarming noun
- a party to celebrate moving into a new home
Commonly confused: houses or homes?
houses vs homes
Homes carries emotional meaning of where someone lives, while houses are just the buildings.
Practice
The new library ___ more than a million books.
Choose one answer.
A singular subject needs the third-person verb houses. Housing and house do not agree, and is housed would need by or in after it.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “houses”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.