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• at-home
  at-home

  noun

  Also at home a reception of visitors at certain hours at one's home.
• at home
  at home

  In one's own residence, town, or country. For example, Mary was not at home when I called , or Tourists in a foreign country often behave more rudely than they do at home . This idiom was first recorded in a ninth-century treatise.

at-home

American  

[at-hohm] / ætˈhoʊm /

noun

1. Also at home a reception of visitors at certain hours at one's home.

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adjective

1. done or used in the home; intended for one's home.

   a new line of at-home computers; at-home assignments for free-lance workers.

at-home British  

noun

1. another name for open day

2. a social gathering in a person's home

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at home Idioms  

1. In one's own residence, town, or country. For example, Mary was not at home when I called , or Tourists in a foreign country often behave more rudely than they do at home . This idiom was first recorded in a ninth-century treatise.

2. Ready to receive a visitor, as in We are always at home to our neighbor's children . This usage gave rise to the noun at-home , meaning a reception to which guests are invited on a specific day at specific hours (also see open house ). [c. 1600]

3. Also, at home with . Comfortable and familiar, as in Mary always makes us feel at home , or I've never been at home with his style of management . [Early 1500s] Also see at ease , def. 1.

4. Also, at home with . Proficient, well-versed in, as in Young John is so much at home with numbers that he may well become a mathematician , or Chris is really at home in French . [Late 1700s]

5. In team sports, playing on one's own field or in one's own town. For example, The Red Sox always do better at home than they do at away games .

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Etymology

Origin of at-home

First recorded in 1740–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

at-home at home

If we’re giving parents money for childcare, it does indeed seem fair to allow that money to support at-home care too, whether the carer is the child’s parent or a nanny.

From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026

An at-home urine test that the NHS has been trialling can detect more than nine in ten cases of bladder cancer, latest findings show.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

You could purchase a hybrid life insurance and long-term-care policy for around $100,000 to $200,000, leaving you the funds to cover at-home care if you needed it down the road.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026

An increased reliance on “premium formats” may seem like an obvious weapon in the increasingly one-sided war between at-home and theatrical viewing, but it is not the answer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

But on the eve of the stay- at-home the entire English-language press crumbled and urged people to go to work.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

When child services representatives express their shock that the teenage Gheorghiu children don’t have internet access at home, can’t go on YouTube, and — gasp! — don’t have smartphones, their surprise blunts Mungiu’s sharp point.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

I read such stories aloud and adhered to commanding officers’ warnings to keep “notes to the boat” free of any references to stress at home, lest we lower troop morale.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

Japanese banks borrowed cheaply at home to lend overseas, pocketing the difference in yield.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Claypool alleged that two of the siblings had told the school that their brother Isaiah was at home and not able to go to school.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

He hoped it was like the garage-door opener at home, where the same code worked for opening and closing.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

• banquet
• barbecue
• bash
• feast
• festivity
• gala
• luncheon
• reception
• shindig