deadhouse means A place for the temporary reception and exposure of dead human bodies (as for example to store them during the winter until the hand-digging of a grave becomes practical after the spring thaw). Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.
Why “deadhouse” is a great word
DEADHOUSE — [Noun] A place for the temporary reception and exposure of dead human bodies, or a room in a bar where intoxicated patrons are taken to recover. From dead (adj.) + house (n.), a compound word. Unlike a "morgue," which implies clinical, institutional permanence, or a "sobering-up station," which denotes an official civic remedy, a deadhouse is an ad-hoc and unadorned utility. It is the cold stone shed by the docks holding nameless bodies; the chalk-dusted slab in a pauper's workhouse; the backroom of a saloon where men sleep off their purchased oblivion. This is architecture for the in-between, where one waits to be claimed by either earth or dawn.
Etymology
From dead + house.
noun
- A place for the temporary reception and exposure of dead human bodies (as for example to store them during the winter until the hand-digging of a grave becomes practical after the spring thaw).
- A room or building behind a bar (drinking establishment) where excessively drunk customers may be taken to sober up.