0 a building where very poor people in Britain used to work, in the past, in exchange for food and shelter --
He favoured a punitive workhouse system to keep the able-bodied male up to the mark.
Real as distinct from illustory changes might be due to the presence of a workhouse, for instance.
The oldest and poorest women were likely to be dependent, but in the homes of others or in workhouses rather than residing with close kin.
They provided detailed descriptions of the escapees, even offering rewards for their return and threats of the workhouse when finally recaptured.
In the workhouse there is of necessity a dead level of monotony - there are many persons but no individuals.
This effectively left workhouse children parentless, or rather, the new poor law and its functionaries became the institutional parents of a newly created orphan class.
Others could not even gain admittance to the workhouse.
At the same time, civil servants calculated that compelling all poor law claimants to enter the workhouse was too expensive.
