Noun: workhouse 'wurk,haws
- [US] A prison in which the sentence includes manual labour
"The convicts were sent to the workhouse to serve their time"
- [UK, archaic] A poorhouse where able-bodied poor are compelled to labour
"In Victorian times, many destitute families ended up in the workhouse"
Derived forms: workhouses
Type of: calaboose [US, Austral, informal], clink [informal], gaol [Brit], jail, jailhouse, pokey [informal], poky [informal], poorhouse [archaic], prison, slammer [informal]
Encyclopedia: Workhouse, the Barony