The Collaborative International Dictionary
Joss \Joss\ (j[o^]s), n. [Chinese, corrupt. fr. Pg. deos God, L.
deus.]
A Chinese household divinity; a Chinese idol. ``Critic in
jars and josses.''
--Colman (1761).
Joss house, a Chinese temple or house for the Chinese mode of worship.
Joss stick, a reed covered with a paste made of the dust of odoriferous woods, or a cylinder made wholly of the paste; -- burned by the Chinese before an idol.
WordNet
n. a Chinese temple or shrine for idol worship
Usage examples of "joss house".
I sent that miserable slave Ah Sam to the joss house early this morning to give thanks to the gods.
If you find a six room furnished apartment for a hundred dollars in New York City to-day, we'll be on Pell Street in Chinatown, and maybe Katie can marry into a laundry or a joss house.
And do you remember the deep Waiting stroke of the great gong in the Joss House, and how its tone hung in the air so long?