house of correction

noun

A kind of residential penitentiary facility, built after the passing of the Elizabethan Poor Law (1601), where those who were "unwilling to work", including vagrants and beggars, were set to work.

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Meanings

nounhouse of correction (plural houses of correction)

plural houses of correction

  1. UKhistoricalA kind of residential penitentiary facility, built after the passing of the Elizabethan Poor Law (1601), where those who were "unwilling to work", including vagrants and beggars, were set to work.
  2. USMassachusetts; Maryland; Massachusetts; MarylandA prison.

Translations

Danish tugthus
  • tugthuspenitentiary facility
Dutch huis van correctie, correctie
  • huis van correctiepenitentiary facility
  • correctiepenitentiary facility
Cite this entry
APA

house of correction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/house%20of%20correction

MLA

“house of correction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/house%20of%20correction. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “house of correction,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/house%20of%20correction.

Source: house of correction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.