cribhouse
A dated American slang term for a brothel, specifically one of the lower-end variety where sex workers rented individual small rooms or 'cribs' by the hour or night.
Definitions
A dated American slang term for a brothel, specifically one of the lower-end variety where sex workers rented individual small rooms or 'cribs' by the hour or night. The word evokes the cramped, utilitarian nature of such establishments at the turn of the 20th century and appears frequently in historical accounts of red-light districts in cities like New Orleans, San Francisco, and Chicago. It's largely a historical term now, more likely to appear in period fiction than modern conversation.
The investigative reporter described the cribhouse as a grim row of locked doors on a street the city preferred to ignore.
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(US, dated) A brothel.
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An older derogatory slang term for a psychiatric hospital or mental asylum, synonymous with 'booby-hatch'. The term reflects the stigmatising language historically used around mental health treatment, framing institutions as places where foolish or 'booby' people were locked away. While the phrase is dated, it still surfaces in vintage writing, old films, and occasionally in retro-flavoured humour, and understanding it requires acknowledging its place in the history of ableist slang.
- fuckhouse68%
Crude vulgar slang for a brothel or any establishment primarily used for paid sexual activity. The term is brutally direct, stripping away any euphemism and leaving nothing to the imagination. It's used in contexts where shock value or blunt realism is the point — in crime fiction, explicit social commentary, or conversations that reject sanitised language around sex work. Less commonly, it can be used hyperbolically to describe any chaotic, morally loose environment.
- can house64%
Chicago-born slang for a brothel or bordello. 'Can house' was part of the city's early 20th-century underworld vocabulary, where shady establishments needed discreet labels. The term sits in the same murky drawer as 'house of ill repute' and 'disorderly house' — euphemisms that let people refer to the business without spelling it out. Rarely heard today outside of historical crime writing or Chicago blues lyrics, but it captures the blunt poetic genius of old-school American street talk.