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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

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

And there is at least one product on the market, PlasticTox by Arrow Lab Solutions, that makes at-home blood and saliva tests that estimate the number and size of microplastic particles you carry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

My dad, feeling sorry for me at the time, gives me the at-home nickname of “Skippy,” in honor of my peanut butter of choice.

From "The Misfits" by James Howe

And, by the only measure that has ever counted to me, completely, joyfully, permanently at home.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

“The other problem here, too, is that the very highest heat-index values I’m seeing are in Central and South Central L.A.,” where a number of people don’t have air conditioning at home, Swain said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

He never felt at home anywhere and was sometimes hungry and neglected.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

"The hope is that at home, in terms of health, they can be protected... because they are inside the house. They don't have to go through roads full of dust and smoke," she said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

I didn’t intend to trap him into marriage, but having a date with him, with Ma’s approval—her encouragement in fact— seemed much more enticing than being cooped up at home.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Related Words

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