1. The house or other structure in which a person lives; a residence or abode.
2. Real estate. The house and all buildings attached to or connected with the house.
3. Criminal law. A building, a part of a building, a tent, a mobile home, or another enclosed space that is used or intended for use as a human habitation. • The term has referred to connected buildings in the same curtilage but now typically includes only the structures connected either directly with the house or by an enclosed passageway. — Often shortened to dwelling.
— Also termed (archaically) mansion house; (more broadly) dwelling place. [Cases: Burglary
4. C.J.S. Burglary §§ 27–28, 30–37.]
“A ‘dwelling house’ or ‘dwelling’ has been defined in connection with the crime of arson as any house intended to be occupied as a residence, or an enclosed space, permanent or temporary, in which human beings usually stay, lodge, or reside. If a building is not used exclusively as a dwelling, it is characterized as a dwelling if there is internal communication between the two parts of the building. Dwellings include mobile homes and a boat, if the person resides on it.” 5 Am. Jur. 2d Arson and Related Offenses § 13, at 789 (1995).
quasi-dwelling-house. Hist. Any outbuilding, such as a barn, that is in proximity to the building used as a residence. See BURGLARY(1).
