Definition of orphanage in US English:

noun

• 1A residential institution for the care and education of orphans.

  Example sentences

  • ‘They will be handed out to children in orphanages, hospitals, special schools and street shelters for homeless youngsters.’
  • ‘On festive days, food and sweets are distributed to the children and inmates of orphanages by the club.’
  • ‘The children she visits at 45 orphanages are not really orphans at all.’
  • ‘For two weeks, the under fives brought in soaps, toothbrushes, toothpaste and small gifts to send to the orphanages of Romania.’
  • ‘Linda and Sandy were brought up in orphanages and by foster parents in America who cut the girls' links with their Southampton family.’
  • ‘If no one had use for the 43,000 bags, why couldn't they be donated to orphanages or even to the growing army of street kids?’
  • ‘Some children are abandoned and end up in orphanages, which have a difficult time caring for them.’
  • ‘She spent her childhood in orphanages, reform schools, and mental institutions.’
  • ‘A few end up in orphanages, who then pass them on to people from the First World who are desperate for children.’
  • ‘More than 100,000 children still live in state care, many in grim orphanages.’
  • ‘The trust offers work experience in orphanages, hospitals and schools as well as environmental development projects.’
  • ‘The group is travelling to Romania on June 20 to work in two orphanages.’
  • ‘In China, many of them are living in institutions, orphanages or homes where their parents cannot manage.’
  • ‘So Robert carried on with his humanitarian work in schools and orphanages, but he worked towards raising the money for the hospital too.’
  • ‘For two weeks they will be involved in building work, painting, decorating and gardening at the privately owned orphanages.’
  • ‘Orphans from orphanages in northeastern Bulgaria work on the farm and produce milk from the cows.’
  • ‘They will then be taken to the government-run children's homes and orphanages and provided with an education.’
  • ‘The number of orphanages and other similar institutions should be known to the State and Central Governments.’
  • ‘Most of these are operating charities, such as the Red Cross, or orphanages, rather than cash-generating schemes.’
  • ‘In this way, the children are not sent off to orphanages or big institutions, but remain part of the community.’

  1. 1.1archaic The state or condition of being an orphan.
     Example sentences

     • ‘A woman with AIDS, whose child faces not just the risk of early orphanage, but an early death.’