1. Plural of bedehouse; charitable institutions or almshouses, typically founded in medieval or early modern England, where poor or elderly people were housed and cared for in exchange for prayers on behalf of the founder.
Usage: archaic; historical; chiefly British

Examples

• The wealthy merchant endowed several bedehouses for the elderly poor in his town.
• Medieval bedehouses provided shelter and sustenance to those who could not support themselves.
• The bedehouses were staffed by caretakers who ensured residents received daily meals and spiritual guidance.
• Many bedehouses required their inhabitants to pray for the souls of their benefactors.
• The architecture of these bedehouses reflected the charitable values of the Renaissance period.