Compound words with HOUSE

HOUSE is a hinge word: 18 words make a compound in front of it and 10 make one after it, so it can sit in the middle of a chain and hold two compounds together at once.

Words that go in front of HOUSE

Each of these makes a compound ending in HOUSE.

• birdhouse — bird + house
• boathouse — boat + house
• clubhouse — club + house
• courthouse — court + house
• doghouse — dog + house
• farmhouse — farm + house
• firehouse — fire + house
• greenhouse — green + house
• guardhouse — guard + house
• lighthouse — light + house
• madhouse — mad + house
• outhouse — out + house
• playhouse — play + house
• powerhouse — power + house
• storehouse — store + house
• townhouse — town + house
• wheelhouse — wheel + house
• workhouse — work + house

Words that follow HOUSE

Each of these makes a compound starting with HOUSE.

• houseboat — house + boat
• houseboy — house + boy
• housebreak — house + break
• household — house + hold
• housekeeping — house + keeping
• houseman — house + man
• houseplant — house + plant
• housewife — house + wife
• housewives — house + wives
• housework — house + work

Why HOUSE joins on both sides

HOUSE is the most productive place-noun in English compounding: almost any activity can be turned into a building. FARMHOUSE, COURTHOUSE, POWERHOUSE and GREENHOUSE run one way; HOUSEWORK, HOUSEBOAT and HOUSEHOLD run the other.

Words that join HOUSE on either side

These words make a compound whichever side of HOUSE they sit on, usually with two unrelated meanings.

• boathouse and houseboat
• workhouse and housework

Bridges you can build through HOUSE

Put any word from the first list in front and any word from the second behind, and you have a three-word chain in which both neighbouring pairs join. Here are some of them.

• BIRD → HOUSE → BOAT — birdhouse and houseboat
• BOAT → HOUSE → BOY — boathouse and houseboy
• CLUB → HOUSE → BREAK — clubhouse and housebreak
• COURT → HOUSE → HOLD — courthouse and household
• DOG → HOUSE → KEEPING — doghouse and housekeeping
• FARM → HOUSE → MAN — farmhouse and houseman
• FIRE → HOUSE → PLANT — firehouse and houseplant
• GREEN → HOUSE → WIFE — greenhouse and housewife
• GUARD → HOUSE → WIVES — guardhouse and housewives
• LIGHT → HOUSE → WORK — lighthouse and housework

Play a bridge

KEYSTONE is a free daily puzzle built entirely out of chains like these. You get the two ends and have to fill the two words in the middle. Three bridges a day, no account, no cookies.

Play today's KEYSTONE

Other hinge words

Each of these has a page like this one. There is also an index of all 60.

AWAY · BACK · BALL · BED · BLACK · BOARD · BOAT · BOOK · BOY · BREAK · CHECK · CROSS · DAY · DOOR · DOWN · FALL · FATHER · FIRE · FOOT · GROUND · GUARD · GUN · HAND · HEAD · HOOD · LAND · LESS · LIFE · LIGHT · LINE · LOAD · MAN · MOTHER · NIGHT · OFF · OUT · OVER · PAY · POINT · POST · POWER · ROOM · RUN · SET · SHIP · SIDE · SOME · STEP · SUN · TAKE · TIME · TURN · UNDER · WALK · WARD · WATER · WAY · WOOD · WORK