commˈons plural noun

1. The common people, commonalty
2. (with cap) their representatives, ie the lower House of Parliament or House of Commons
3. Common land, kept for the mutual benefit of ordinary people
4. Food at a common table, esp at an Oxford college
5. The building or hall attached to a college serving as a dining room, recreation area, etc
6. Food in general, rations

common carrier noun

A person or company that deals with the transporting of goods, messages, etc for which he or it is legally responsible

common chord noun (music)

A chord made up of three notes in a major or minor scale, ie the fundamental or generating note with its third and perfect fifth

common cold noun

A viral infection causing inflammation of the mucous membranes lining the nose and throat, resulting in a runny nose, headache, etc

common debtor noun (Scots law)

A debtor who is also owed money by a third party: the sum owed to him or her may be arrested (qv) and transferred directly to his or her creditor

common denominator see under denominate

Common Entrance noun

An entrance examination for public school, usually taken at the age of thirteen

Common Era noun

The Christian Era

common forms plural noun

The ordinary clauses which frequently occur in identical terms in writs and deeds

common fraction noun

A vulgar fraction

common gender noun

The gender of a noun or pronoun having one form for male and female, such as L bōs bull or cow, Eng student

common ground noun

A subject of mutual interest, argument, agreement, etc

commˈonhold noun

A freehold held in common by a number of owners, who have joint responsibility for managing the property (eg a block of flats)

common law noun

The law of England based on custom and precedent (cf statute law and civil law)

common-law marriage noun

1. In England, any of various informal types of marriage ceremony given legal recognition until 1753, some of which, if performed abroad, are still legally valid
2. Loosely, the bond between a man (common-law husband) and woman (common-law wife) living together as husband and wife but not legally married

common logarithm noun

A logarithm to the base ten

common market noun

1. An association of countries as a single economic unit with internal free trade and common external tariffs
2. (with caps) the European Economic Community (qv)

common measure noun

1. A quantity that is a measure of several quantities (mathematics)
2. Common time (music)
3. The usual form of a ballad stanza, a quatrain containing alternating four-stress and three-stress lines

common metre noun

A four-line hymn stanza with eight syllables in the first and third lines, six in the second and fourth

common-mode failure noun (nuclear eng)

The failure of two or more supposedly independent parts of a system (eg a reactor) from a common external cause or from interaction between the parts

common noun noun (grammar)

A name that can be applied to all the members of a class, opp to proper noun

common-or-garˈden adjective

Ordinary

commˈonplace noun

1. A platitude, pointless remark
2. A common topic or subject (obsolete)
3. A passage to be copied into a commonplace book.

adjective

1. Frequent, common, usual
2. Lacking distinction
3. Hackneyed, overused

transitive verb

1. To make notes of
2. To put in a commonplace book

intransitive verb

To platitudinize

commonplace book noun

A book in which ideas, notes, memoranda, etc are jotted down

commˈonplaceness noun

common rail noun

A type of diesel injection system

commˈon-ridˈing noun

In the Scottish Borders, the equivalent of beating the bounds

common room noun

(in schools, colleges, etc) a sitting room to which the students or teachers have common access

common school noun (US)

A public elementary school

common seal noun

The official seal of a corporate body

common sense noun

1. Average understanding
2. Good sense or practical wisdom

commonsenseˈ or commonsensˈical adjective

common-shoreˈ see under shore⁵

common stair noun

An interior stair giving access to several independent flats or dwellings

common stock noun (US)

Ordinary shares

common time noun (music)

Rhythm with two, four, eight or sixteen beats to the bar

Book of Common Prayer

The liturgy of the Church of England

common in the soil (law)

The ancient right to take stone, sand, gravel and minerals from common land

common of pasture (law)

The ancient right to graze animals on common land

Court of Common Bench or Common Pleas

One of the divisions of the High Court of Justice

in common

1. Together (archaic)
2. Together (with)
3. Shared or possessed equally

make common cause with

1. To cast in one's lot with
2. To have the same interest and aims as

philosophy of common sense

The school of philosophy that takes the universally admitted impressions of mankind as corresponding to the facts of things without any further scrutiny

short commons (informal)

Meagre rations

the common

That which is common or usual

the common good

1. The interest of the community at large
2. The property of a former Scottish royal burgh which is not raised by tax nor held by special act of parliament

the common people

The people in general

the common touch

The ability to empathize with ordinary people

house /hows/

noun (pl houses /howzˈiz/)

1. A building for living in
2. A building in general
3. A dwelling-place
4. An inn
5. A public house
6. A household
7. A family in line of descent
8. Kindred
9. A trading establishment
10. One of the twelve divisions of the heavens in astrology
11. A legislative or deliberative body or its meeting-place
12. A convent
13. A school boarding house
14. The pupils belonging to it (collectively)
15. A section of a school
16. An audience, auditorium or performance
17. The workhouse (old informal)
18. The circle around the tee within which stones must lie to count (curling)
19. (the House) at Oxford, Christ Church (Aedes Christi), in London, the Stock Exchange or the Houses of Parliament
20. Bingo, esp when played for money (esp army sl)
21. (usu with cap) house music (qv below)

adjective

1. Domestic
2. Of a restaurant, hotel, etc or its management, as in house rules
3. (of wine) unnamed and cheaper than those listed on a menu, etc by name or region

transitive verb /howz/

1. To protect by covering
2. To shelter
3. To store
4. To provide houses for

intransitive verb

1. To take shelter
2. To reside

interjection /hows/

An exclamation made by the first player to finish a game of bingo

houseˈful noun (pl houseˈfuls)

houseˈless adjective

1. Without a house or home
2. Having no shelter

housˈey adjective

Typical of house music (qv below)

housing /howˈzing/ noun

1. Houses, accommodation or shelter, or the provision of any of these (also adjective)
2. A cavity into which a timber fits
3. Anything designed to cover, protect or contain machinery, etc
4. A housing joint (see below)

house agent noun

A person who arranges the buying, selling and letting of houses

house arrest noun

Confinement, under guard, to one's house, or to a hospital, etc instead of imprisonment

houseˈboat noun

A barge with a deck-cabin that may serve as a dwelling-place

houseˈ-bote noun (law)

A tenant's right to wood to repair his or her house

houseˈbound adjective

Confined to one's house, eg because of illness, responsibilities towards young children, etc

houseˈboy noun

A male domestic servant, esp in Africa or India

houseˈbreaker noun

1. A person who breaks into and enters a house for the purpose of stealing
2. Someone whose work is demolishing old houses

houseˈbreaking noun

houseˈ-broken adjective

House-trained

house call noun

A visit made by a professional person, esp a doctor, to a client or patient at home

houseˈ-carl noun (historical)

A member of a king's or noble's bodyguard

house church or house group noun

A group of Christians meeting, usu in a house, for worship, prayer, Bible study, etc, usu in addition to Sunday church worship

houseˈcoat noun

A woman's usu long coatlike dressing-gown, worn at home

houseˈcraft noun

Skill in domestic activities

houseˈ-dog noun

1. A dog kept in a house
2. A watchdog

houseˈ-dūty or houseˈ-tax noun

A tax laid on inhabited houses

houseˈ-factor noun (Scot)

A house agent

houseˈ-father noun

1. The male head of a household or community
2. A man in charge of children in an institution

house flag noun

The distinguishing flag of a shipowner or shipping company

houseˈfly noun

The common fly

house group see house church above.

house guest noun

A guest in a private house

houseˈhold noun

1. Those who are held together in the same house, and compose a family
2. A single person living alone or a group of people living together (economics)

adjective

1. Relating to the house and family
2. Well-known to the general public, as in household name, household word

Household Cavalry noun

The two cavalry regiments, the Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards, responsible for guarding the British sovereign

houseˈholder noun

The holder or tenant of a house

household gods see under god, lar, penates

household suffrage or household franchise noun

The right of householders to vote for members of parliament

household troops plural noun

Guards regiments whose particular duty is to attend the sovereign and defend the metropolis

household word noun

A familiar saying or name

houseˈ-hunt intransitive verb

To look for a house to live in

houseˈ-hunter noun

houseˈ-hunting noun

houseˈ-husband noun

A married man or live-in male partner who looks after the house and family and does not have a paid job

houseˈkeeper noun

1. A person employed to run a household
2. A person who has the chief care of a house
3. Someone who stays much at home (archaic)
4. A dispenser of hospitality (obsolete)
5. A watchdog (obsolete)

houseˈkeeping noun

1. The keeping or management of a house or of domestic affairs
2. The money used for this
3. Hospitality (obsolete)
4. Operations carried out on or within a computer program to ensure the efficient functioning of the program

adjective

Domestic

house leek noun

A plant (Sempervivum tectorum) of the stonecrop family with succulent leaves, often growing on roofs

house lights plural noun (theatre)

The lights illuminating the auditorium

houseˈ-line noun (nautical)

A small line of three strands, for seizings, etc

house longhorn beetle see longhorn under long¹

houseˈmaid noun

A maid employed to keep a house clean, etc

housemaid's knee noun

An inflammation of the sac between the kneecap and the skin, to which those whose work involves frequent kneeling are especially liable

houseˈman noun

A house officer (qv below)

house martin noun

A kind of black-and-white swallow (Delichon urbica) with a slightly forked tail, often building its nest on a house wall

houseˈmaster or houseˈmistress noun

(in schools) the male or female head of a (boarding-)house, esp in connection with a public school

houseˈ-mate noun

One person sharing a house with another

houseˈ-mother noun

1. The mother of a family, the female head of a family
2. A woman in charge of children in an institution

house mouse noun

A brownish-grey mouse (Mus musculus) that is a pest in human houses

house music noun

(also with cap) a type of electronically produced dance music with a strong 4–4 beat, often incorporating edited fragments of other recordings

house of call noun

1. A house where the journeymen of a particular trade call when out of work
2. A house that one often visits

house of cards noun

A situation, etc that is as unstable as a pile of playing cards

House of Commons see under common

house of correction noun

A jail

house officer noun

A recent graduate in medicine holding a junior resident post in a hospital

house of God, house of prayer or house of worship noun

A place of worship

house of ill fame or house of ill repute noun

A brothel

House of Keys see under Keys

House of Lords see under lord

House of Peers see under peer¹

House of Representatives see under represent

houseˈparent noun

A man or woman in charge of children in an institution

house party noun

A company of guests spending some days in a private house, esp one in the country

house plant noun

A plant that can be grown indoors as decoration

houseˈ-proud adjective

Taking a pride (often an excessive and fussy pride) in the condition of one's house

houseˈroom noun

Room or place in a house (also figurative)

houseˈ-sit intransitive verb

houseˈ-sitting noun

Looking after a house by living in it while the owner is away, on holiday, etc

house sparrow see under sparrow

houseˈ-steward noun

A steward who manages the household affairs of a great family

house style noun

The particular forms of type, layout, presentation, etc preferred by a publisher or other business

house surgeon noun

A resident surgeon in a hospital (also house physician)

house-tax see house-duty above.

houseˈ-to-houseˈ adjective

Performed or conducted by calling at house after house

houseˈtop noun

The top or roof of a house

houseˈ-train transitive verb

houseˈ-trained adjective

1. (of animals) taught to urinate and defecate outdoors, or in a place provided for the purpose
2. (of human beings) clean and well-mannered (facetious)

houseˈ-warming noun

A party given after moving into a new house

housewife /howsˈwīf, formerly huzˈif/ noun

1. The mistress and manager of a house
2. A married woman who looks after the house and family and does not have a paid job
3. /huzˈif/ a pocket sewing-outfit

houseˈwifely adjective

housewifery /howsˈwif-ri, -wīf-ri or huzˈif-ri/ noun

houseˈwifeship or (Scot) houseˈwifeskep noun

houseˈwork noun

Domestic work

houseˈy-houseˈy noun

A game in which numbers are drawn at random and marked off on players' boards until one is clear (now usu called bingo)

housing association noun

A non-profit-making organization that owns, maintains and lets houses at reasonable rents

housing estate noun

A planned residential area, esp one built by a local authority

housing joint noun

A joint where the end of one board fits into a groove cut across another board

housing scheme noun

1. A plan for the designing, building and provision of houses, esp by a local authority
2. Sometimes applied to an area coming under such a plan

bring the house down

To evoke very loud applause in a place of entertainment

full house see under full¹

House or Council of States

The upper house of the Indian parliament

House of the People

The lower house of the Indian parliament

Inner House

The higher branch of the Court of Session, its jurisdiction chiefly appellate (Outer House the lower branch of the Court of Session)

keep a good house

To keep up a plentifully supplied table

keep house

To maintain or manage an establishment

keep open house

To give entertainment to all comers

keep the house

1. To remain indoors
2. To take charge of the house or be on watch for the time being
3. To be confined to the house

like a house on fire (or afire)

1. With astonishing rapidity
2. Very well or successfully

on the house

1. (of drinks) at the publican's expense
2. Free, with no charge

put or set one's house in order

To settle one's affairs

set up house

To start a domestic life of one's own

the Household

The royal domestic establishment