1. [n]  play in which children take the roles of father or mother or children and pretend to interact like adults; "the children were playing house"
2. [n]  a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families; "he has a house on Cape Cod"; "she felt she had to get out of the house"
3. [n]  a building in which something is sheltered or located; "they had a large carriage house"
4. [n]  a building where theatrical performances or motion-picture shows can be presented; "the house was full"
5. [n]  aristocratic family line; "the House of York"
6. [n]  members of a business organization; "he worked for a brokerage house"
7. [n]  a social unit living together; "he moved his family to Virginia"; "It was a good Christian household"; "I waited until the whole house was asleep"; "the teacher asked how many people made up his home"
8. [n]  an official assembly having legislative powers; "the legislature has two houses"
9. [n]  the audience gathered together in a theatre or cinema; "the house applauded"; "he counted the house"
10. [n]  the members of a religious community living together
11. [n]  the management of a gambling house or casino; "the house gets a percentage of every bet"
12. [n]  (astrology) one of 12 equal areas into which the zodiac is divided
13. [v]  provide housing for; "The immigrants were housed in a new development outside the town"
14. [v]  contain or cover; "This box houses the gears"

House
Discusses the different rooms in a house and their function.

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1. \House\, n.; pl. {Houses}. [OE. hous, hus, AS. h?s; akin
   to OS. & OFries. h?s, D. huis, OHG. h?s, G. haus, Icel. h?s,
   Sw. hus, Dan. huus, Goth. gudh?s, house of God, temple; and
   prob. to E. hide to conceal. See {Hide}, and cf. {Hoard},
   {Husband}, {Hussy}, {Husting}.]
   1. A structure intended or used as a habitation or shelter
      for animals of any kind; but especially, a building or
      edifice for the habitation of man; a dwelling place, a
      mansion.
            Houses are built to live in; not to look on.
                                                  --Bacon.
            Bees with smoke and doves with noisome stench Are
            from their hives and houses driven away. --Shak.
   2. Household affairs; domestic concerns; particularly in the
      phrase to keep house. See below.
   3. Those who dwell in the same house; a household.
            One that feared God with all his house. --Acts x. 2.
   4. A family of ancestors, descendants, and kindred; a race of
      persons from the same stock; a tribe; especially, a noble
      family or an illustrious race; as, the house of Austria;
      the house of Hanover; the house of Israel.
            The last remaining pillar of their house, The one
            transmitter of their ancient name.    --Tennyson.
   5. One of the estates of a kingdom or other government
      assembled in parliament or legislature; a body of men
      united in a legislative capacity; as, the House of Lords;
      the House of Commons; the House of Representatives; also,
      a quorum of such a body. See {Congress}, and {Parliament}.
   6. (Com.) A firm, or commercial establishment.
   7. A public house; an inn; a hotel.
   8. (Astrol.) A twelfth part of the heavens, as divided by six
      circles intersecting at the north and south points of the
      horizon, used by astrologers in noting the positions of
      the heavenly bodies, and casting horoscopes or nativities.
      The houses were regarded as fixed in respect to the
      horizon, and numbered from the one at the eastern horizon,
      called the ascendant, first house, or house of life,
      downward, or in the direction of the earth's revolution,
      the stars and planets passing through them in the reverse
      order every twenty-four hours.
   9. A square on a chessboard, regarded as the proper place of
      a piece.
   10. An audience; an assembly of hearers, as at a lecture, a
       theater, etc.; as, a thin or a full house.
   11. The body, as the habitation of the soul.
             This mortal house I'll ruin, Do C[ae]sar what he
             can.                                 --Shak.
   12.
   Usage: [With an adj., as narrow, dark, etc.] The grave. ``The
          narrow house.'' --Bryant.
   Note: House is much used adjectively and as the first element
         of compounds. The sense is usually obvious; as, house
         cricket, housemaid, house painter, housework.
   {House ant} (Zo["o]l.), a very small, yellowish brown ant
      ({Myrmica molesta}), which often infests houses, and
      sometimes becomes a great pest.
   {House of bishops} (Prot. Epis. Ch.), one of the two bodies
      composing a general convertion, the other being House of
      Clerical and Lay Deputies.
   {House boat}, a covered boat used as a dwelling.
   {House of call}, a place, usually a public house, where
      journeymen connected with a particular trade assemble when
      out of work, ready for the call of employers. [Eng.]
   

2. \House\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Housed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Housing}.] [AS. h?sian.]
   1. To take or put into a house; to shelter under a roof; to
      cover from the inclemencies of the weather; to protect by
      covering; as, to house one's family in a comfortable home;
      to house farming utensils; to house cattle.
            At length have housed me in a humble shed. --Young.
            House your choicest carnations, or rather set them
            under a penthouse.                    --Evelyn.
   2. To drive to a shelter. --Shak.
   3. To admit to residence; to harbor.
            Palladius wished him to house all the Helots. --Sir
                                                  P. Sidney.
   4. To deposit and cover, as in the grave. --Sandys.
   5. (Naut.) To stow in a safe place; to take down and make
      safe; as, to house the upper spars.
   

3. \House\, v. i.
   1. To take shelter or lodging; to abide to dwell; to lodge.
            You shall not house with me.          --Shak.
   2. (Astrol.) To have a position in one of the houses. See
      {House}, n., 8. ``Where Saturn houses.'' --Dryden.
   

Till their sojourn in Egypt the Hebrews dwelt in tents. They then for the first time inhabited cities (Gen. 47:3; Ex. 12:7; Heb. 11:9). From the earliest times the Assyrians and the Canaanites were builders of cities. The Hebrews after the Conquest took possession of the captured cities, and seem to have followed the methods of building that had been pursued by the Canaanites. Reference is made to the stone (1 Kings 7:9; Isa. 9:10) and marble (1 Chr. 29:2) used in building, and to the internal wood-work of the houses (1 Kings 6:15; 7:2; 10:11, 12; 2 Chr. 3:5; Jer. 22:14). "Ceiled houses" were such as had beams inlaid in the walls to which wainscotting was fastened (Ezra 6:4; Jer. 22:14; Hag. 1:4). "Ivory houses" had the upper parts of the walls adorned with figures in stucco with gold and ivory (1 Kings 22:39; 2 Chr. 3:6; Ps. 45:8).

The roofs of the dwelling-houses were flat, and are often alluded to in Scripture (2 Sam. 11:2; Isa. 22:1; Matt. 24:17). Sometimes tents or booths were erected on them (2 Sam. 16:22). They were protected by parapets or low walls (Deut. 22:8). On the house-tops grass sometimes grew (Prov. 19:13; 27:15; Ps. 129:6, 7). They were used, not only as places of recreation in the evening, but also sometimes as sleeping-places at night (1 Sam. 9:25, 26; 2 Sam. 11:2; 16:22; Dan. 4:29; Job 27:18; Prov. 21:9), and as places of devotion (Jer. 32:29; 19:13).