jook house
- noun
- /ˈdʒuːk haʊs/
- Archaic
:
juke house
- They spent the evening dancing at the jook house on the edge of town.
Examples
-
We visited a local jook house for dinner.
-
The jook house was filled with laughter and music.
-
Local musicians often performed live at the old jook house before it closed down.
-
The documentary explores the cultural history of the Southern jook house scene.
-
They spent the evening dancing and enjoying live music at the jook house in their neighborhood.
-
The documentary highlights the vibrant atmosphere of the jook house, where locals gathered for food and entertainment.
-
Every Friday night, the community comes together to enjoy food and dance at the popular jook house.
Synonyms
16
4.9
A place outside town like a restaurant that serves food, drink, and live music and dancing
7
9.9
A small roadside bar where people eat, drink, and dance to a jukebox
4
9.5
A small informal place in the southern United States where people eat, drink, and dance to blues from a jukebox
A small roadside bar in the southern United States with music and dancing
A small lively place in the southern United States where people eat, drink, and dance to music
A small informal place where people eat, drink, and dance to jukebox music
How Lively
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is a straightforward noun + house construction: if a learner knows 'jook' (a small venue for food, drinks and dancing) and 'house' (a building/place), they can infer 'jook house' is the building where those activities occur. The term is regionally and culturally marked, but its meaning is compositionally transparent from the constituents.
Etymology
Jook house comes from the word jook, also spelled juke, that Black communities in the American South used to mean 'a lively, rowdy place'. A jook house was a small roadside house where people danced, drank, and listened to music, so the name now means 'a lively place for music and dancing'.