Plural of doghouse; small shelters built for dogs, or colloquially, a state of disfavor or disgrace.
Compound of 'dog' plus 'house' in plural form. The figurative sense of 'in the doghouse' (meaning in trouble or disgrace) emerged in American English by the early 1900s, comparing banishment from the home to a dog sleeping outside.
The phrase 'in the doghouse' is a perfect example of how metaphors live in our language—we've created an idiom where being in disfavor means being treated worse than the family pet!
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