1. (英国17至19世纪的)济贫院，劳动救济所
In Britain, in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, a workhouse was a place where very poor people could live and do unpleasant jobs in return for food. People use the workhouse to refer to these places in general.

1. a county jail that holds prisoners for periods up to 18 months

2. a poorhouse where able-bodied poor are compelled to labor