House \House\ (hous), 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.
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            Houses are built to live in; not to look on.
                                                  --Bacon.
     
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            Bees with smoke and doves with noisome stench
            Are from their hives and houses driven away. --Shak.
   
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   2. Household affairs; domestic
         concerns; particularly in the
      phrase to keep house.
         See below.
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   3. Those who dwell in
         the same house; a household.
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            One that feared God with all his house. --Acts x. 2.
   
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   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.
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            The last remaining pillar of their house,
            The one transmitter of their ancient name.
                                                  --Tennyson.
     
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   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.
     
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   6. (Com.) A firm, or commercial
         establishment.
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   7. A public
         house; an inn; a hotel.
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   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.
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   9. A
         square on a chessboard, regarded as the proper place of
   
           a piece.
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   10. An audience; an
         assembly of hearers, as at a lecture, a
       theater,
         etc.; as, a thin or a full house.
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           11. The body, as the habitation of the soul.
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         Webster]

             This mortal house I'll ruin,
             Do C[ae]sar what he can.             --Shak.
      
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   12.

   Usage: [With an adj., as
         narrow, dark, etc.] The grave. "The
          narrow house." --Bryant.
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   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.
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   House
         ant (Zool.), 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.]

   To bring down the house. See under
         Bring.

   {To keep
         house}, to maintain an independent
         domestic
      establishment.

   To keep open
         house,
         to entertain friends at all times.

   Syn: Dwelling;
         residence; abode. See Tenement.
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