bring down the house

Idioms  

1. 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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Example Sentences

Not everyone can bring down the house with a song like “Endangered Species.”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 2022

Among the stars to bring down the house for this year's Academy of Country Music Awards was Miranda Lambert.

From Fox News • Sep. 16, 2020

Without hesitation, he recalled “Misirlou” from his childhood — his father was Lebanese — and proceeded to bring down the house by performing the song in double time, entirely on the low E string.

From Washington Post • Mar. 18, 2019

She’s perfect, not only for a cinematic treatment, but for a stage production primed to bring down the house.

From The Guardian • Jul. 31, 2018

This was designed to bring down the house, and usually it did.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

Related Words

• display
• execute
• give
• go on
• offer
• play
• present
• produce
• represent
• show
• stage