poorhouse

noun

poor·​house ˈpu̇r-ˌhau̇s How to pronounce poorhouse (audio)
ˈpȯr-
: a place maintained at public expense to house needy or dependent persons

Examples of poorhouse in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In 1902, as California thought to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the blessing of the navel orange, as 8,000 railroad cars of oranges were sent to market each year, Luther Tibbets was living in a Riverside poorhouse. Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 22 Sep. 2024 Brains have surfaced from northern European peat bogs, Andean mountaintops, shipwrecks, desert tombs and Victorian poorhouses. Katie Hunt, CNN, 25 Mar. 2024 Diedrichs left town by 1863, and was said to have died years later in a New York poorhouse. Genevieve Redsten, Journal Sentinel, 9 June 2023 One 1909 report describes a Virginia poorhouse warden who stopped an older woman from wandering by anchoring her with a twenty-eight-pound ball and chain. Marion Renault, The New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2022 See all Example Sentences for poorhouse 

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1579, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of poorhouse was circa 1579

Dictionary Entries Near poorhouse

Cite this Entry

“Poorhouse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poorhouse. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

poorhouse

noun
poor·​house ˈpu̇(ə-)r-ˌhau̇s How to pronounce poorhouse (audio)
ˈpō(ə)r-
: a place maintained at public expense to house poor people
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