backhouse

See also: back-house, back house, and Backhouse

English

Alternative forms

back-house, back house

Etymology

From back +‎ house.

Noun

backhouse (plural backhouses)

(now dialect) An outbuilding behind the main building, or an annex attached to the rear of it; especially, a scullery or washhouse.
- 1557, Edinburgh Burgh Records, volume III, page 17:
  […] to abstene […] fra all melting […] of talloun within thair bak hous […]
(US, Canada, euphemistic) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
- 1847, Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language:
  BACK'HOUSE... a necessary.
- 1939, Christopher Morley, chapter II, in Kitty Foyle, page 23:
  […] the chlorides Mother was always throwing into the little outdoor backhouse […]

Synonyms

(outhouse): backside (UK); see also Thesaurus:bathroom

Hypernyms

Descendants

→ French: bécosse

References

Oxford English Dictionary. "back-house, n."

Anagrams

houseback

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.