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Glite Dictionary
housebound

housebound

4 6.0
Not able to leave home because you are sick or very old
  • adjective
  • /ˈhaʊsˌbaʊnd/
translation icon : encerrado en casa
  • After breaking her leg, she found herself housebound for several weeks.
  • housebound patients

So we are a little bit housebound right now because we're basically playing dog kennel, am I right?

Examples

  • Patients who were housebound as a result of the severity of their disease commented on how they appreciated that they could be assessed even though they were unable to get to the hospital.

    Academic text (2011)

  • This was their home in Riverdale, where they became housebound because they couldn't drive any longer.

  • And it's the rare American woman who is willing to be housebound for months on end.

    Blog text (29)

  • Again, the practice needs to decide how housebound patients using insulin are to be managed before the service starts.

    Academic text (2011)

  • You are aware that her husband has COPD and is now housebound.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Housebound for too long, everyone but George and Bess put on warm clothes and went out for a walk.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • After being bedridden and housebound for much of the winter just past, she was determined to pursue her quest.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • The difficulties for housebound patients unable to attend outpatient appointments for routine follow-up and assessment of blood gases have already been mentioned.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Housebound elders may be invisible and inaudible to their well-intentioned neighbors and may be isolated in general.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Several people I know are almost constantly debilitated and housebound due to city-wide exposure to cell towers and Wi-Fi that has become ubiquitous.

    Blog text (14)

Synonyms

homebound
vshousebound
3 5.8

Unable to leave home because of illness, disability, or old age

is the same idea but uses a different common term
shut-in
vshousebound
1 8.4

Staying mostly at home because of illness, injury, or not wanting to go out

is confined at home mainly because of illness or old age

How Mobile

mobile
81 2.7
housebound
4 6.0
bedridden
11 4.5
immobile
14 4.4

Surface Forms

housebound positive

Morphology

housebound = house + bound (semi-transparent) = house + bound

The components 'house' + 'bound' are recognizable, but 'bound' as 'confined to' is a restricted sense that may not be obvious to all B1 learners.

Etymology

The word housebound is made from house and bound, where bound here means 'tied to' or 'kept at', as in the phrase 'homeward bound'. So, to be housebound is to be 'tied to' your house and unable to leave home.