halfway house

English

Etymology

The term has been used in the United States since at least the Temperance Movement of the 1840s.

Noun

halfway house (plural halfway houses)

  1. An inn or place of calm midway on a journey.
    • 1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete, page 26:
      Even to-day Zakro is still the principal half-way house for sailing craft between the Ægean and the north coast of Africa.
  2. A temporary residence for those who have left prison, residential drug rehabilitation, or the like, designed to ease them back into society.
    • 2023 July 11, “Manson follower Leslie Van Houten released from prison after 53 years”, in The Guardian‎:
      She added that Van Houten will head to a halfway house for about a year after her release.
  3. (figuratively) A halfway point, e.g. towards achieving a goal.
    • 2021 April 21, Philip Haigh, “As one strike ends, trouble starts to flare up elsewhere...”, in RAIL, number 929, page 56:
      The deal represents a halfway house to driver-only operation, as seen elsewhere - for example, on Thameslink, where the driver is the only member of staff who must be aboard the train.

Translations

Further reading
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