Meanings
nounjoy house (plural joy houses)
plural joy houses
- USslangA brothel.
‘You try her,’ Nulty said. ‘I ain't been in a joy house in twenty years.’
1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin, published 2010, page 18
Cite this entry
APA
joy house. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/joy%20house
MLA
“joy house.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/joy%20house. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “joy house,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/joy%20house.
Source: joy house on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.