housefuln.
/ˈhaʊsfʊl/, U.S. /ˈhaʊsˌfʊl/ A quantity (of people) that fills a house; as much or as many as a house can hold. Frequently with of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > amount defined by capacity > [noun] > amount that fills a building
housefulc1300
shopful1613
churchful1779
stableful1834
officeful1845
warehouseful1859
coteful1865
c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) l. 1067 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 137 (MED) Alle þe pouere men..to þe mete he drovȝ..he let heom Alle fede wel, a gret hous-ful neiȝ.
c1400 Simonie (Peterhouse) (1991) l. 357 So mych shal a pore man pay..Þat haþ an housful of chyldre sittyng abowt þe flete.
1610 Bp. J. Hall Common Apol. against Brownists §13 The tumultuarie Discipline of the refined house-full at Amsterdam.
1665 S. Pepys Diary 19 Sept. (1972) VI. 233 The whole houseful there at Cards.
1734 London Mag. Mar. 132/1 Having strip'd the Child stark naked before an Houseful of Company, he beat it in so terrible a Manner, that he left it for dead on the Floor.
1752 Spring-garden Jrnl. 1 14 She requites him with a Houseful of Wits, Fiddlers, and Coxcombs.
1842 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 96 A housefull of the most delightful children.
1867 C. Dickens Let. 1 Jan. (1999) XI. 293 Having my annual family house-ful, I have, as yet, seen nothing.
1921 H. Crane Let. 25 Dec. (1965) 75 We have a houseful of indiscriminate relatives and it has been hard to collect myself.
1979 M. Leigh Abigail's Party i, in Abigail's Party & Goose-pimples (1983) 23 I think he was a little bit worried that I'd invite all my friends, and they'd bring along a few of theirs, and we'd end up with a houseful.
2002 D. B. Mason Men with Brooms i. i. 9 It had been, even all those years ago, a crucial goal for them both—to have a houseful of rug rats.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1300