Synonyms

full house

American

noun

Poker.

a hand consisting of three of a kind and a pair, as three queens and two tens.

full house British

noun

poker a hand with three cards of the same value and another pair
a theatre, etc, filled to capacity
(in bingo, etc) the set of numbers needed to win

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of full house

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

How can she communicate her truth to a full house while still embodying the character they’ve come to the theater expecting to see?

From Salon • Nov. 23, 2025

A full house of 32,000 at Gaddafi Stadium cheered the home boy Azam when he cracked three successive boundaries off Ottneil Baartman to reach 37th half century -- his first after 13 T20I innings.

From Barron's • Nov. 1, 2025

"Sometimes there'd be half a dozen kids in the house with their carers – it was a full house."

From BBC • Sep. 18, 2025

He walked on stage, now the proud paterfamilias with greying hair and a broad welcoming smile on his face as he surveyed the nearly full house.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2025

Boghetti had promised a full house, but in fact, as Marian could see, the hall was no more than a third full.

From "The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights" by Russell Freedman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023