joy house

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

joy house (plural joy houses)

  1. (US slang) A brothel.
    • 1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin, published 2010, page 18:
      ‘You try her,’ Nulty said. ‘I ain't been in a joy house in twenty years.’