doll's house
/'dɔlzhaus/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- A small model of a house used as a toy by children: A miniature house, often with furniture and sometimes dolls, designed for children's play.
- A house so small that it is likened to a child's plaything: A very small, often charmingly compact, real house.
Examples of Usage
- As a toy model:
- She spent hours arranging the tiny furniture in her doll's house.
- The intricate doll's house was a replica of a Victorian mansion.
- As a description of a real, small house:
- They retired to a charming doll's house in the countryside.
- The cottage was a perfect little doll's house, with a tiny garden.
Advanced Usage
- "like a doll's house": Used as a simile to describe something that is exceptionally neat, small, or intricately detailed.
- Her apartment was decorated so perfectly it was like a doll's house.
Variants and Related Words
- Dollhouse: (noun) The more common spelling in American English for both meanings.
- Miniature house: (noun phrase) A general term for a small-scale model of a building.
Synonyms
- Toy house: (noun phrase) A house used as a toy.
- Miniature: (noun) A much smaller than usual version of something.
- Cottage: (noun) A small house, especially in the country (for the second meaning).
Idioms and Phrases
- "Everything in its place, like a doll's house": An idiom describing extreme neatness and order.
- After she cleaned, the room was perfect, everything in its place, like a doll's house.
Noun
- a small model of a house used as a toy by children
- a house so small that it is likened to a child's plaything