1. A public lodging house serving food and drink to travelers; a hotel.
2. A tavern or restaurant.
3. Chiefly British. Formerly, a residence hall for students, especially law students, in London.

[Middle English, from Old English.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.