backhouse
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Pronunciation
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.
- (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
Descendants
- → French: bécosse
References
- Oxford English Dictionary. "back-house, n."