booby housen.
/ˈbuːbɪ haʊs/, U.S. /ˈbubi ˌhaʊs/ 1. Nautical. A removable cover or small companion (companion n.2 1) over a small hatchway giving people access to a lower deck, or to a compartment below the deck. Hence also: a small cabin on the deck of a vessel, or a compartment below the deck. Cf. booby hatch n. 1, booby-hutch n. 2. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > room, locker, or quarters > [noun] > cabin > small
booby-hutch1821
booby house1845
pocket1883
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > other parts of body of vessel > [noun] > opening in deck > opening leading to cabin > cover over > type of
booby hatch1784
booby-hutch1821
booby house1845
mansard1882
1845 N.Y. Herald 6 May The paper Mr. Rowan read was laid on the ‘Booby House’ for half a day.
1857 Life-boat 1 Oct. 95/2 As for the look-out, what with topgallant bulwarks and booby-houses upon deck, it is next to impossible to exert that vigilance.
1889 City Court Rep. 2 4 For these acts of misconduct the captain had the plaintiff handcuffed and then confined in what is called the booby-house of the vessel.
2000 D. L. Shores Tangier Island x. 212 A shelter at the bow is a cabin; if it has [a] cockpit on top of it, it is called a boobie top or boobie house.
2. U.S. slang.
a. A place of incarceration; a lock-up; a prison. Cf. booby hatch n. 2a and booby-hutch n. 4a. Now rare.
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society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun]
quarternOE
prisona1200
jailc1275
lodgec1290
galleya1300
chartrea1325
ward1338
keepingc1384
prison-house1419
lying-house1423
javel1483
tollbooth1488
kidcotec1515
clinkc1530
warding-place1571
the hangman's budget1589
Newgate1592
gehenna1594
Lob's pound1597
caperdewsie1599
footman's inn1604
cappadochio1607
pena1640
marshalsea1652
log-house1662
bastille1663
naskin1673
state prison1684
tronk1693
stone-doublet1694
iron or stone doublet1698
college1699
nask1699
quod1699
shop1699
black hole1707
start1735
coop1785
blockhouse1796
stone jug1796
calaboose1797
factory1806
bull-pen1809
steel1811
jigger1812
jug1815
kitty1825
rock pile1830
bughouse1842
zindan1844
model1845
black house1846
tench1850
mill1851
stir1851
hoppet1855
booby hatch1859
caboose1865
cooler1872
skookum house1873
chokey1874
gib1877
nick1882
choker1884
logs1888
booby house1894
big house1905
hoosegow1911
can1912
detention camp1916
pokey1919
slammer1952
joint1953
slam1960
1894 Daily Reflector (Norwalk, Ohio) 31 July When I collared him he began to cut my togs into tatters, but I got him to the booby house after considerable fanning.
1920 D. Stevens Jailed for Freedom vi. 145 I know of one girl who has been kept seventeen days on only water this month in the ‘booby house’.
1950 Edwardsville (Illinois) Intelligencer 11 July 5/3 Small detention building known as ‘booby house’.
b. A psychiatric hospital. Cf. booby hatch n. 2b and booby-hutch n. 4b. Now rare.
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the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > hospital for the mentally ill
bedlam-house1525
dull-house1622
madhouse1649
bedlam1663
lunatic hospital1762
asylum1776
retreat1796
lunatic house1813
lunatic asylum1828
maison de santé1843
idiot asylum1848
rat house1854
bughouse1887
Colney Hatch1891
booby hatch1896
mental hospital1898
booby house1900
nut factory1900
nut collegec1906
nuthouse1906
monkey house1910
booby-hutch1914
nuttery1915
loony bin1919
nut hatch1928
silly house1930
bin1938
snake-pit1947
funny farm1950
1900 A. H. Lewis Sandburrs v. 26 If it wasn't for d' hop I shoots into him wit' a dandy little hypodermic gun.., he'd be in the booby house.
1929 Internat. Molders' Jrnl. Feb. 84/1 That's old stuff in all the booby houses where the keepers clap the patients in strait jackets.
1948 Pittsburgh Post-Gaz. 24 Dec. 5/5 You would think that a man should be put in the booby house if he kept chasing a car that he had already caught.
1991 D. Hopper in G. Hickenlooper Reel Conversat. i. 69 I saw three-quarters of the people studying with him taken off the stage in a strait-jacket to the booby house or funny farm.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1845