rooming house

a house with furnished rooms to rent; lodging house.

Origin of rooming house

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95

room-and-pillar, roomer, roomette, roomful, roomie, rooming house, rooming-in, roommate, roomy, rooney, roorback

He ran all the way back to Lucy's house, threw down the key he had got from her, and then went to his own rooming-house.

The Winning Clue |James Hay, Jr.
Later she was dressing to go out, when the back door of the rooming-house opened and the man from Kentucky bulged in the doorway.

News Writing |M. Lyle Spencer
A rooming-house, by the way, is a kind of boarding-house but with no accommodation for meals.

Across America by Motor-cycle |C. K. Shepherd
At Lulu's rooming-house they lingered again, talking in subdued tones on the brownstone stoop.

Just Around the Corner |Fannie Hurst

But Church Street and the rooming-house and the livery-stable—they had been her very self.

Clark's Field |Robert Herrick

rooming house

US and Canadian a house having self-contained furnished rooms or flats for renting