Council or House of States

The upper house of the Indian parliament

council of war

A conference of military officers called to consult with the commander (also figurative)

ecumenical council

One of the seven general councils convened by the undivided Catholic Church between 325AD and 787

European Council

The body comprising the French head of state and the prime ministers of the other EU countries

general council

A council convened by an invitation to all the bishops of the church

in council

1. In the council chamber
2. In consultation

legislative council

A council to assist a governor, with power to make laws

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

state /stāt/

noun

1. A condition
2. A perturbed condition of mind (informal)
3. An untidy condition (informal)
4. A mode of existence
5. A set of circumstances that exist at any time
6. A phase or stage
7. An impression taken at a stage of progress in engraving or etching or in printing a book
8. Status
9. Station in life
10. High station
11. Grave import (Shakespeare)
12. Pomp, display, ceremonial dignity
13. A seat of dignity (Shakespeare)
14. A canopy (Milton)
15. An estate, order, or class in society or the body politic
16. Hence (in pl) the legislature (historical)
17. An exalted personage (Milton)
18. Public welfare
19. The constitution
20. A republic (obsolete)
21. The civil power
22. A political community under one government
23. One of a number of political communities forming a federation under a central government
24. The territory of such a community
25. High politics
26. An interest in property (Spenser)
27. Property, estate (Shakespeare)
28. A body of people united by profession
29. A statement, report (now chiefly military)

adjective

1. Of, belonging to, or relating to, the state or a federal state
2. Run or financed by the state
3. Public
4. Ceremonial
5. Pompous
6. Affectedly solemn and mysterious
7. Magnificent

adverb or adjective (Spenser)

Explained in old gloss as stoutly (perh pompous)

transitive verb

1. To set forth
2. To express the details of
3. To set down fully and formally
4. To assert, affirm
5. To install, establish, endow, place in a condition (esp favourable; archaic)
6. To set in state
7. To specify
8. Perh to determine the value of (Milton)
9. To settle

stātˈable adjective

Capable of being stated

stātˈal adjective

Of a federal state

stātˈed adjective

1. Settled
2. Established
3. Declared
4. Regular
5. Circumstanced (obsolete)

stātˈedly adverb

stateˈhood noun

The status of a state

stateˈless adjective

1. Without nationality
2. Unworthy to be accounted a state
3. Without pomp

stateˈlessness noun

stateˈlet noun

A minor state

stateˈlily adverb

stateˈliness noun

stateˈly adjective

1. Showing state or dignity
2. Majestic, greatly impressive

adverb

1. Majestically
2. Loftily

stateˈment noun

1. The act of stating
2. That which is stated
3. A formal account, declaration of facts, etc
4. An instruction in a source language or any directive input to a program that converts a source language into machine code (computing)
5. A financial record, eg one issued regularly by a bank to a customer, stating his or her personal balance and detailing debits and credits
6. (in the UK) a written undertaking, legally binding, by an education authority to provide certain stated resources in the education of a particular child with learning difficulties

transitive verb

To issue a statement about the special educational needs of (a child)

stateˈmented adjective

stateˈmenting noun

stātˈer noun

stateˈwide adjective (US)

Applied throughout the state

stātˈism noun

(the belief in) state control of economic and social affairs

stātˈist noun and adjective (see also separate entry)

state-aidˈed adjective

Receiving contributions from the state

state bank noun

(in the USA) a bank that is awarded its charter by a state government

state cabin noun

A stateroom on a ship

state capitalism noun

Control by the state of the means of production and use of capital

stateˈcraft noun

The art of managing state affairs

State Department noun

The US government department dealing with foreign affairs

State Enrolled Nurse noun

A nurse who has passed a particular examination of the General Nursing Council of England and Wales or the General Nursing Council of Scotland (abbrev SEN; see also State Registered Nurse below)

state house noun

1. (usu with caps) the building in which a state legislature sits
2. (sometimes with cap) a building where state ceremonies are held
3. A house built by the government for renting (NZ)

stately home noun

A large, fine old house, esp one open to the public

statement of claim noun

The pleading in which the plaintiff in an action at law sets forth his or her case against the defendant

stateˈ-monger noun (derogatory)

One who would like to be thought a statesman

state of affairs or state of events noun

A situation, set of circumstances

state of emergency see emergency under emerge

state of play noun

The situation as it currently stands

state of repair noun

Physical condition, soundness

state of the art noun

1. The level or position at a given time, esp the present, of generally accepted and available knowledge, technical achievement, etc in a particular field, etc
2. The level of technological development as yet unsurpassed in a particular field

state-of-the-artˈ adjective

state paper noun

An official paper or document relating to affairs of state

state prison noun

state prisoner noun

A prisoner confined for offence against the state

State Registered Nurse noun

In England and Wales, a nurse who has passed a more advanced examination of the General Nursing Council of England and Wales than a State Enrolled Nurse (abbrev SRN; see also Registered General Nurse under register)

state religion noun

A religion recognized by the state as the national religion

stateˈroom noun

1. A private cabin or railway compartment
2. A large room for formal or ceremonial occasions, esp in a palace

state school noun

One controlled by a public authority, and financed by taxation

States General noun

1. The representative body of the three orders (nobility, clergy, burghers) of the French kingdom (historical)
2. The Dutch parliament

Stateˈside adjective and adverb (informal; also without cap)

Of, in, towards or to the USA

statesˈman, fem statesˈwoman noun

1. A person skilled in government
2. A person who takes an important part in governing the state, esp with wisdom and broad-mindedness
3. A person who farms his or her own estate, a small landholder (N Eng)

statesˈmanlike or statesˈmanly adjective

Befitting a statesman or stateswoman

statesˈmanship noun

state socialism noun

A political system in which the state controls industry and the banking system

statesˈperson noun

state trial noun

A trial for an offence against the state

state trooper noun

(in the US) a member of a state police force

Council (or House) of States see under council

lie in state

(of a corpse) to be laid out in a place of honour before being buried

state of the Union message

(in the US) an annual report by the President, required by statute, on the state of the nation and on legislative plans

States of the Church (historical)

An area of central Italy ruled by the popes as a temporal domain (also Papal States)

the States

The United States

turn State's evidence see under evident