backhouse

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

English

Alternative forms

• back-house, back house

Etymology

From back +‎ house.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

backhouse (plural backhouses)

1. (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 […]

2. (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:outhouse

Hypernyms

• backside
• house
• outbuilding

Descendants

• → French: bécosse

References

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

Anagrams

• houseback