home [1] (homes plural ) (NOUN, ADJECTIVE, AND ADVERB USES)
1 n-count Someone's home is the house or flat where they live.
oft poss N, also at N
Last night they stayed at home and watched TV..., ...his home in Hampstead., ...the allocation of land for new homes.
2 n-uncount You can use home to refer in a general way to the house, town, or country where someone lives now or where they were born, often to emphasize that they feel they belong in that place.
She gives frequent performances of her work, both at home and abroad..., His father worked away from home for much of Jim's first five years..., Warwick is home to some 550 international students...
3 adv Home means to or at the place where you live.
ADV after v, be ADV
His wife wasn't feeling too well and she wanted to go home..., Hi, Mom, I'm home!...
4 adj Home means made or done in the place where you live.
ADJ n
...cheap but healthy home cooking..., All you have to do is make a home video.
5 adj Home means relating to your own country as opposed to foreign countries.
ADJ n
(=domestic)
Europe's software companies still have a growing home market.
6 n-count A home is a large house or institution where a number of people live and are looked after, instead of living in their own houses or flats. They usually live there because they are too old or ill to look after themselves or for their families to care for them.
...an old people's home.
7 n-count You can refer to a family unit as a home .
She had, at any rate, provided a peaceful and loving home for Harriet...
8 n-sing If you refer to the home of something, you mean the place where it began or where it is most typically found.
with supp, usu N of n
This south-west region of France is the home of claret.
9 n-count If you find a home for something, you find a place where it can be kept.
oft N for n
The equipment itself is getting smaller, neater and easier to find a home for.
10 adv If you press, drive, or hammer something home , you explain it to people as forcefully as possible.
ADV after v
It is now up to all of us to debate this issue and press home the argument.
11 n-uncount When a sports team plays athome , they play a game on their own ground, rather than on the opposing team's ground.
usu at N
I scored in both games against Barcelona; we drew at home and beat them away.
Home is also an adjective., adj ADJ n (Antonym: away)
All three are Chelsea fans, and attend all home games together.
12 If you feel at home, you feel comfortable in the place or situation that you are in.
at home phrase v-link PHR
He spoke very good English and appeared pleased to see us, and we soon felt quite at home...
13 To bring something home to someone means to make them understand how important or serious it is.
bring sth home phrase V inflects, usu PHR to n
Their sobering conversation brought home to everyone present the serious and worthwhile work the Red Cross does.
14 If you say that someone is, in British English home and dry, or in American English home free, you mean that they have been successful or that they are certain to be successful.
home and dry, home free phrase v-link PHR
The prime minister and the moderates are not yet home and dry.
15 If a situation or what someone says hits home or strikes home, people accept that it is real or true, even though it may be painful for them to realize.
hit/strike home phrase V inflects
Did the reality of war finally hit home?...
16 You can say a home from home in British English or a home away from home in American English to refer to a place in which you are as comfortable as in your own home.
a home from home phrase usu v-link PHR (approval)
Many cottages are a home from home, offering microwaves, dishwashers, tvs and videos.
17 If you say to a guest `Make yourself at home', you are making them feel welcome and inviting them to behave in an informal, relaxed way.
make yourself at home convention
(politeness)
18 If you say that something is nothing to write home about, you mean that it is not very interesting or exciting.
INFORMAL
nothing to write home about phrase v-link PHR
So a dreary Monday afternoon in Walthamstow is nothing to write home about, right?
19 If something that is thrown or fired strikes home, it reaches its target.
WRITTEN
strike home phrase V inflects
Only two torpedoes struck home.
