noun
workhouse
WURK-hows/ˈwɜːrkhaʊs/
An institution where poor people were housed and required to work.
The workhouse residents pick apart rope under supervision.
Etymology
A workhouse was originally a building for work—a workshop or manufactory. The name later covered places of compulsory labor, including institutions that lodged poor people and required them to work.
In context
The Victorian workhouse was an institution that was intended to [music] provide work and shelter for poverty-stricken people
More examples
- Residents of the workhouse performed demanding labor.
- The historian examined workhouse records.
- The old workhouse later became a hospital.
Forms
workhouse · workhouses
Similar words
- poorhouse
- A poorhouse housed people in poverty; a workhouse specifically required labor as part of its system.
- prison
- A prison confines people under criminal authority; a workhouse historically institutionalized poor people, often under harsh conditions.