1. institutions where poor people were housed and made to work in exchange for food and shelter
Usage: historical; primarily British

Examples

• Victorian workhouses were notorious for their harsh conditions.
• Families were often separated when they entered the workhouses.
• The workhouses were designed to discourage people from seeking help.
• Charles Dickens wrote about the cruelty of workhouses in his novels.
• Many workhouses were eventually converted into hospitals or demolished.
• The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 established a system of workhouses across England.