big house

See also: bighouse

English

Alternative forms

• (religious building): bighouse

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

big house (plural big houses)

1. (slang) Prison, jail.
   • 1948 November 15, “The End of Bad Boy Collins”, in Time:

     He was 38 years old and had been in the big house twice for shooting scrapes.

2. (slang, obsolete) The workhouse.
3. A religious building of the Delaware Indians, representing the cosmos.

   Coordinate term: longhouse

4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see big,‎ house.

Usage notes

• In slang, always preceded by "the".