doghouse

Noun

doghouse (plural doghouses)

1. Any small house or structure or enclosure used to house a dog.
   • "But, honey, whar yo' ole man gwine ter sleep?" "Dey's straw in de barn, en pine shatters in de doghouse!" she shouted, slamming the window.1902, Thomas Dixon, The Leopard's Spots: A Romance of the White Man's Burden--1865-1900, page 61
2. A structure of small size, similar to a doghouse, but offering useful shelter for a human.
   • This berth of mine was commonly called a doghouse (a box about six feet long, four high, and two broad,) containing a mattress fitted about 18 inches from the deck.1840, James Holman, Travels in Madeira, Sierra Leone, Teneriffe, St. Jago, Cape Coast, Fernando ..., page 411
   • p. 1927, United States Code Annotated
     […] so as to render railroad liable for death of brakeman falling from tender, notwithstanding construction of doghouse on top of tender for brakeman's use.
3. Mechanically, an equipment cover with an opening, with a shape resembling a doghouse.
4. A difficult or demoralizing situation.
   • During the slave trade, slaves were packed into every available niche aboard the slave ships, including the officers' cabins. The officers slept on deck in semi-cylindrical boxes, nicknamed "dog houses." The term "in the dog house" grew to describe being in a difficult situation due to the extreme...1981, Charles Snelling, “Nomenclature of Ships”, in Naval Sea Systems Command publication
5. A traffic signal with five sections: two on the bottom, two in the middle, and one on top.
6. (informal) Any shabby or disreputable establishment.
   • He didn't even know where he was taking her. He had assumed she would suggest a place she wanted to eat, the movie she wanted to see. Now he suspected she was waiting for him to make the decision. Unfortunately, he hardly knew the area. He didn't want to risk taking her to the local doghouse.2011, Christopher Pike, Until the End: The Party; The Dance; The Graduation, page 161
7. The condition of being in the doghouse (subject to someone's anger or disapproval).
   • He's out of the doghouse now that he's bought his wife some flowers.