mollie-house

A form of molly house — A tavern or other establishment in 18th and 19th century England where homosexuals could meet for various activities, such as cross-dressing and sexual encounters.

Meanings

nounmollie-house (plural mollie-houses)

plural mollie-houses

  1. alternativeAlternative form of molly house.

    In 1726 a raid on mollie-houses in London resulted in twenty places being discovered.

    2002, William G. Naphy, Sex crimes: from Renaissance to Enlightenment, page 102
    2 more examples

    After what Kate Little had told him, he had gone to the mollie-house tonight half-convinced that he would find Lawrence at the root of it all – a desperate and manipulated figure, perhaps, but guilty nonetheless.

    2015, Hannah March, A Distinction of Blood

    That was very encouraging, indeed, since the only time Matthias had considered leaving his study after his. return to London was to attend the theater or visit a mollie-house.

    2019, V.B. Kildaire, The Bastard's World
Cite this entry
APA

mollie-house. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mollie-house

MLA

“mollie-house.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mollie-house. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mollie-house,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mollie-house.

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