workhouse

The English word “workhouse” has 4 meanings listed here.

noun

An institution for homeless poor people funded by the local parish, where the able-bodied were required to work.
A prison in which the sentence includes manual labour.
A place of manufacture; a factory.

verb

To place (a person) in the workhouse (institution for the poor).

Etymology

From Middle English werkhous, from Old English weorchūs (“workshop, place of manufacture”), from Proto-Germanic *werkahūsą, equivalent to work + house.

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More English words

workholding
workhome
workhorse
workhour
workie
working
working alive
working animal

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.