Jump To:

• 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.

---

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

---

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 .

---

Etymology

Origin of at-home

First recorded in 1740–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

at-home at home

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

At least one product on the market estimates the number and size of microplastic particles you carry, using an at-home blood and saliva test.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Americans have largely heard about the famous French creche system of public daycares, but the French government also subsidizes the kind of one-on-one at-home care that many parents of infants prefer.

From Slate ● Jul. 6, 2026

She’s sprawled out on my air mattress wearing a hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants—her at-home uniform.

From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi

The Spurs 2016-17 team was the best in the league by most measures: best attack, best defence, fewest defeats, unbeaten at home in the last season of the old White Hart Lane.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

As he fled the officers, he alerted his friends at home, who called 911.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

"The immigrant community was in hiding, staying at home, fearing for their safety, fearing for the separation of their families," she told a press conference.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

She offers her own example: Last winter, one of her students had a bed bug situation at home.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

Sit at home all alone, feeling like the biggest loser in the world, or hang out with my gran at an old folks’ home?

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

Related Words

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