bring down the house
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Also, bring the house down. Evoke tumultuous applause and cheers, as in Her solo brought the house down. This hyperbolic term suggests noise loud enough to pose a threat to the building—an unlikely occurrence. In the late 1800s, British music-hall comedians punned on it: when the audience greeted a joke with silence, they said, “Don't clap so hard; you'll bring down the house (it's a very old house).” [Mid-1700s]
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Words nearby bring down the house
bring about, bring-and-buy sale, bring around, bringdown, bring down the curtain, bring down the house, bring forth, bring forward, bring home, bring home the bacon, bring in
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
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