Dotheboys Hall
Preserved but no longer current.
A school in Dickens's Nicfwlas Nickleby where boys were taken m and done for by Mr. Wackford Squeers, a brutish, ignorant, overbearing knave, who starved them and taught them nothing. The ruthless exposure of this kind of "school" led to the closing or reformation of many of them.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Dotheboys Hall” mean?
A school in Dickens's Nicfwlas Nickleby where boys were taken m and done for by Mr. Wackford Squeers, a brutish, ignorant, overbearing knave, who starved them and taught them nothing. The ruthless exposure of this kind of "school" led to the closing or reformation of many of them.
Is “Dotheboys Hall” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.