The Collaborative International Dictionary
Workhouses
Workhouse \Work"house`\, n.; pl. Workhouses. [AS. weorch[=u]s.]
A house where any manufacture is carried on; a workshop.
A house in which idle and vicious persons are confined to labor.
A house where the town poor are maintained at public expense, and provided with labor; a poorhouse.
Wiktionary
workhouses
n. (plural of workhouse English)