Hypertext Webster Gateway: "workhouse"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Workhouse \Work"house`\, n.; pl. {Workhouses}. [AS. weorch?s.]
1. A house where any manufacture is carried on; a workshop.
2. A house in which idle and vicious persons are confined to
labor.
3. A house where the town poor are maintained at public
expense, and provided with labor; a poorhouse.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
workhouse
n 1: (British) a poorhouse where able-bodied poor are compelled
to labor
2: a county jail that holds prisoners for periods up to 18
months
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