housemaid
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house·maid /'haʊsmeɪd/ n (especially in former times) a
female servant who cleans the house
housemaid's 'knee n [U] a swelling of the knee, caused
especially by too much kneeling on floors while cleaning
them
house·man BrE /'haʊsmən/ || intern AmE —n pl. -men
/mən/ a doctor of low rank (man or woman) completing
hospital training, and often (especially in Britain) living in
the hospital. Housemen often work very long hours because
they must be available day and night. → compare INTERN¹
'house ,martin n a European bird of the SWALLOW family
house·mas·ter
/'haʊs,mɑːstə||,-mæ-/,
house·mis·tress /-ˌmɪstrəs/ fem. —,n especially BrE a
teacher who is in charge of one of the houses (HOUSE) in a
school
house·mate /'haʊsmeɪt/ n BrE a person who you share a
house with but who is not a member of your family
'house ,music also house n [U] a kind of popular music
made for people to dance to in NIGHTCLUBS, involving com-
plicated mixtures of sounds produced by electronic musical
instruments, with a fast repeated beat, and not many words.
House music first became popular in the 1980s.
,house of 'cards n [C usually sing.] 1 an arrangement of
playing cards built up carefully but easily knocked over 2 a
plan or situation which is too badly arranged to succeed
,House of 'Commons, the also the House, the
Commons the more powerful of the two parts of the
British or Canadian parliaments. The members are elected by
citizens over 18 years of age, and each member represents
people in a particular area as its MP (=Member of Parliament).
The British House of Commons has 659 members, and its
discussions are controlled by an official called the Speaker.
MPs representing the largest party sit on one side of the
House of Commons, on the 'government benches', and the
other parties sit opposite them on the 'opposition benches'.
When a new law is introduced, it is first passed in the House
of Commons, if more MPs vote for it than against it, and then
sent to the HOUSE OF LORDS to be discussed and approved.
Finally it must be approved by the Queen or King and given
the ROYAL ASSENT. → see also STRANGERS' GALLERY and see
Feature on page A20
,house of 'God n [S] lit a church
,house of ,ill re'pute n a BROTHEL
,House of 'Lords, the also the House, the
Lords .1 the less powerful of the two parts of the British
parliament. Its members are not elected: they either belong to
old NOBLE families, whose right to be in the House of Lords
can be passed down from father to son, or they are LIFE
PEERS (=people who have been given a special title because
of their important achievements, which cannot be passed
on to their children). Many of the Life Peers are politicians
who used to be important members of the House of Com-
mons. Although the House of Lords has less power than it
used to have, it still has some powers to change or delay new
laws, and many people in the UK now think it is wrong that a
non-elected group should have any part in the government of
the country. 2 the group of LAW LORDS of the House of Lords
who make up the highest COURT OF APPEAL in the UK → see
Feature on page A20; see colour photo on page A34
,House of Repre'sentatives, the also the House the
larger and more powerful of the two parts of the main
law-making process in countries such as Australia, New
Zealand, and especially the US. In the US, the House of
Representatives has 435 members, each elected by their own
state. They are known as Representatives or Congressmen
and Congresswomen. The number of Representatives which
each state has depends on the size of its population. Repre-
sentatives serve for two years. → compare CONGRESS, SEN-
ATE; see colour photo on page A35
'house ,organ n AmE for HOUSE JOURNAL
'house ,party n a party lasting for several days in a private
house, especially a large house in the country
house·phone, house phone /'haʊsfən/ n a telephone
which can only make calls within a building, especially a
hotel: Use the housephone to reach the concierge.
house·plant, house plant /'haʊsplɑːnt ||-plænt/ n a
usually decorative plant that is grown indoors
'house point n BrE a mark given to pupils in some schools as
a reward for good behaviour or for doing well at sport,
studies etc
'house·proud adj liking to have everything in perfect order
in the house and spending a lot of time on keeping it clean
and tidy, perhaps too much so
house·room /'haʊsrum, -rʊm/ n [U] especially BrE 1 space in
a house for a person or thing 2 give sbdy./sthg. house-
room usually negative be willing to find a place in one's home
for: I think it's ugly – I wouldn't give it houseroom!
,Houses of 'Parliament, the the buildings in which the
members of the British parliament meet, or the parliament
itself: We bring you a report on today's debate in the Houses of
Parliament. → see colour photo on page A34
'house ,sparrow n the most common bird of the SPARROW
family
,House that 'Jack ,Built, The the title of a well-known
NURSERY RHYME (=an old song or poem for children) which
begins 'This is the house that Jack built'
,house-to-'house also door-to-door adj [A] (done by)
visiting each house in turn: a house-to-house collection
house·tops /'haʊs-tɒps||-tɑːps/ n from the housetops
publicly, so that everyone will hear or know: shouting their
demands from the housetops
'house ,trailer n AmE a: MOBILE HOME
'house·trained BrE || housebroken AmE — adj 1 (of house
pets) trained to go out of the house to empty the bowels or
BLADDER 2 humor (of people) taught to be tidy and useful at
home
,House ,Un-American Ac'tivities Com,mittee, the n
→ see HUAC
house·wares /'haʊsweəz||-werz/ n [P+sing./pl.v] AmE (the
department of a large shop which sells) small articles for the
home, such as cooking equipment, lamps, small furniture
etc
house·warm·ing /'haʊsˌwɔːmɪŋ||-wɔːr-/ n a party given
when one has moved into a new house, and to which guests
sometimes bring presents for the home
house·wife /'haʊs-waɪf/ n pl. -wives /waɪvz/ [C] a woman
who works at home for her family, cleaning, cooking etc,
especially one who does not work outside the home — ly
adj
CULTURAL NOTE
In the past, the typical wife was a
housewife. The STEREOTYPE of a good housewife was
someone who was expected to clean her house regularly,
take good care of her children, and have a meal prepared
for her husband as soon as he returned home from work.
She should be good at cooking and sewing, be kind and
caring to her children and husband, and allow her
husband to make all of the main decisions for the family.
Many housewives did not work professionally because
their husbands earned enough money to support the
whole family. Today, very few women are housewives
because most married women work and both the
husband and the wife are responsible for cooking,
cleaning, and taking care of the children. → see Cultural
Note at FAMILY
house·work /'haʊswɜːk||-wɜːrk/ n [U] work done in taking
care of a house, especially cleaning: to do the housework →
compare HOMEWORK
hous·ing /'haʊzɪŋ/ n 1 [U] (the act of providing) places for
people to live in: government housing policy | Too many
people live in bad housing (conditions). 2 [C] a protective
covering, especially for a piece of machinery: the engine
housing
,Housing and ,Urban De'velopment n → see HUD
'housing associ,ation n in Britain, a society formed by a
group of people so that they can build houses or flats for
themselves or buy the houses or flats in which they live
'housing ,benefit n [U] in Britain, money given by local
councils to people who cannot afford to pay the rent for
their room, house, or flat
'housing es,tate BrE || 'housing de,velopment AmE — n