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Webster 1913 Edition
Workhouse
Work′houseˊ
,Noun.
pl.
Workhouses
(#)
. [AS.
weorchūs
.] 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.