The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

House \House\ (hous), n.; pl. Houses. [OE. hous, hus, AS. h?s;
   akin to OS. & OFries. h?s, D. huis, OHG. h?s, G. haus, Icel.
   h?s, Sw. hus, Dan. huus, Goth. gudh?s, house of God, temple;
   and prob. to E. hide to conceal. See Hide, and cf. Hoard,
   Husband, Hussy, Husting.]
   1. A structure intended or used as a habitation or shelter
      for animals of any kind; but especially, a building or
      edifice for the habitation of man; a dwelling place, a
      mansion.
      [1913 Webster]

            Houses are built to live in; not to look on.
                                                  --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

            Bees with smoke and doves with noisome stench
            Are from their hives and houses driven away. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Household affairs; domestic concerns; particularly in the
      phrase to keep house. See below.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Those who dwell in the same house; a household.
      [1913 Webster]

            One that feared God with all his house. --Acts x. 2.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A family of ancestors, descendants, and kindred; a race of
      persons from the same stock; a tribe; especially, a noble
      family or an illustrious race; as, the house of Austria;
      the house of Hanover; the house of Israel.
      [1913 Webster]

            The last remaining pillar of their house,
            The one transmitter of their ancient name.
                                                  --Tennyson.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. One of the estates of a kingdom or other government
      assembled in parliament or legislature; a body of men
      united in a legislative capacity; as, the House of Lords;
      the House of Commons; the House of Representatives; also,
      a quorum of such a body. See Congress, and Parliament.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. (Com.) A firm, or commercial establishment.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. A public house; an inn; a hotel.
      [1913 Webster]

   8. (Astrol.) A twelfth part of the heavens, as divided by six
      circles intersecting at the north and south points of the
      horizon, used by astrologers in noting the positions of
      the heavenly bodies, and casting horoscopes or nativities.
      The houses were regarded as fixed in respect to the
      horizon, and numbered from the one at the eastern horizon,
      called the ascendant, first house, or house of life,
      downward, or in the direction of the earth's revolution,
      the stars and planets passing through them in the reverse
      order every twenty-four hours.
      [1913 Webster]

   9. A square on a chessboard, regarded as the proper place of
      a piece.
      [1913 Webster]

   10. An audience; an assembly of hearers, as at a lecture, a
       theater, etc.; as, a thin or a full house.
       [1913 Webster]

   11. The body, as the habitation of the soul.
       [1913 Webster]

             This mortal house I'll ruin,
             Do C[ae]sar what he can.             --Shak.
       [1913 Webster]

   12.

   Usage: [With an adj., as narrow, dark, etc.] The grave. "The
          narrow house." --Bryant.
          [1913 Webster]

   Note: House is much used adjectively and as the first element
         of compounds. The sense is usually obvious; as, house
         cricket, housemaid, house painter, housework.
         [1913 Webster]

   House ant (Zool.), a very small, yellowish brown ant
      (Myrmica molesta), which often infests houses, and
      sometimes becomes a great pest.

   House of bishops (Prot. Epis. Ch.), one of the two bodies
      composing a general convertion, the other being House of
      Clerical and Lay Deputies.

   House boat, a covered boat used as a dwelling.

   House of call, a place, usually a public house, where
      journeymen connected with a particular trade assemble when
      out of work, ready for the call of employers. [Eng.]

   To bring down the house. See under Bring.

   To keep house, to maintain an independent domestic
      establishment.

   To keep open house, to entertain friends at all times.

   Syn: Dwelling; residence; abode. See Tenement.
        [1913 Webster]