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Glite Dictionary
station house

station house

21 3.8
A building where police officers work and keep people they arrest
  • noun
  • /ˈsteɪʃən haʊs/
  • US
translation icon : comisaría
  • The suspect was taken to the station house after his arrest for questioning.
  • back to the station house
  • go to the station house
  • door to the station house

Examples

  • After the incident, the officers returned to their station house to file a detailed report.

  • The community meeting was held at the local station house to discuss safety concerns.

  • We gotta get to the station house.

    Beyond Skyline (2017)

  • We're gonna go down to the station house and we're gonna make a report.

    The Believers (1987)

  • We'll go back to the station house.

    The Man from Planet X (1951)

  • You need to come down to the station house anyway to file a report.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • We'll have to go down to the station house and make a complaint.

    Scarlet Street (1945)

  • Come on over to the station house, the Lieutenant is throwing a party.

    Dancing Lady (1933)

  • Talk to him at the station house after he's been booked.

    The Tall Target (1951)

  • I'm at the 68th Street station house.

    Where’s Poppa? (1970)

Synonyms

police station
vsstation house
157 1.0

A building where police work, hold arrested people, and take crime reports

is the district headquarters mainly for officers and holding detainees

How Big

police station
157 1.0
station house
  • US
21 3.8
call box
  • US
2.8

Surface Forms

station house singular
station houses plural

Morphology

station + house

Both constituents denote buildings, so a B1 learner who knows 'station' and 'house' will infer this is a type of building associated with a station. However, the specific sense 'police headquarters/detention place' is not strictly predictable from the parts (and 'station' can refer to many service buildings), making the exact meaning partially but not fully deducible.

Etymology

Station house comes from the simple picture of station and house joined together: a 'house' where the police 'station' is based. That is why it means the local building where officers work and where people are taken after arrest.