- into the position desired; perfectly or to the greatest possible extent: sails sheeted home.
- in the proper, stowed position: The anchor is home.
- toward its vessel: to bring the anchor home.
verb (used without object), homed, hom·ing.
verb (used with object), homed, hom·ing.
- homans' sign,
- home aid,
- home automation,
- home banking,
- home base,
- home brand
- in one's own house or place of residence.
- in one's own town or country.
- prepared or willing to receive social visits: Tell him I'm not at home. We are always at home to her.
- in a situation familiar to one; at ease: She has a way of making everyone feel at home.
- well-informed; proficient: to be at home in the classics.
- played in one's hometown or on one's own grounds: The Yankees played two games at home and one away.
- assured of finishing, accomplishing, succeeding, etc.: If we can finish more than half the work today, we'll be home free.
- certain to be successfully finished, accomplished, secured, etc.: With most of the voters supporting it, the new law is home free.
Origin of home
- a building or organization set up to care for orphans, the aged, etc
- an informal name for a mental home
- the objective towards which a player strives in certain sports
- an area where a player is safe from attack
- one of two positions of play nearest the opponents' goal
- a player assigned to such a positioninside home
- in one's own home or country
- at ease, as if at one's own home
- giving an informal party at one's own home
- British such a party
adjective (usually prenominal)
- to make clear to
- to place the blame on
Word Origin for home
Old English ham "dwelling, house, estate, village," from Proto-Germanic *haimaz (cf. Old Frisian hem "home, village," Old Norse heimr "residence, world," heima "home," Danish hjem, Middle Dutch heem, German heim "home," Gothic haims "village"), from PIE root *tkei- "to settle, dwell, be home" (cf. Sanskrit kseti "abides, dwells," Armenian shen "inhabited," Greek kome, Lithuanian kaimas "village;" Old Church Slavonic semija "domestic servants").
'Home' in the full range and feeling of [Modern English] home is a conception that belongs distinctively to the word home and some of its Gmc. cognates and is not covered by any single word in most of the IE languages. [Buck]
Home stretch (1841) is originally a reference from horse racing. Home base in baseball attested by 1859 (home plate by 1867; home as the goal in a sport or game is from 1778). Home economics first attested 1899. Slang phrase make (oneself) at home "become comfortable in a place one does not live" dates from 1892. To keep the home fires burning is from a song title from 1914. To be nothing to write home about "unremarkable" is from 1907. Home movie is from 1919; home computer is from 1967.
1765, "to go home," from home (n.). Meaning "be guided to a destination by radio signals, etc. (of missiles, aircraft, etc.) is from 1920; it had been used earlier in reference to pigeons (1862). Related: Homed; homing. Old English had hamian "to establish in a home."
home in on
Move toward or focus on a goal, as in He began with a couple of jokes before homing in on the main subject of his talk. This expression originally alluded to a vessel, aircraft or missile being guided to its target by a radio beam or some other means. [c. 1920]
In addition to the idioms beginning with home
- home free
- home in on
- home run
- home truth
- at home
- bring home
- bring home the bacon
- chickens come home to roost
- close to home
Drive Homeeat someone out of house and homemake oneself at homenobody homenothing to write home abouttill the cows come home.