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homing

[hoh-ming]
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adjective
  1. capable of returning home, usually over a great distance: We saw the homing birds at dusk.
  2. guiding or directing homeward or to a destination, especially by mechanical means: the homing instinct; a homing beacon.
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Origin of homing

First recorded in 1860–65; home + -ing2

home

[hohm]
noun
  1. a house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household.
  2. the place in which one's domestic affections are centered.
  3. an institution for the homeless, sick, etc.: a nursing home.
  4. the dwelling place or retreat of an animal.
  5. the place or region where something is native or most common.
  6. any place of residence or refuge: a heavenly home.
  7. a person's native place or own country.
  8. (in games) the destination or goal.
  9. a principal base of operations or activities: The new stadium will be the home of the local football team.
  10. Baseball. home plate.
  11. Lacrosse. one of three attack positions nearest the opposing goal.
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adjective
  1. of, relating to, or connected with one's home or country; domestic: home products.
  2. principal or main: the corporation's home office.
  3. reaching the mark aimed at: a home thrust.
  4. Sports. played in a ball park, arena, or the like, that is or is assumed to be the center of operations of a team: The pitcher didn't lose a single home game all season.Compare away(def 11).
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adverb
  1. to, toward, or at home: to go home.
  2. deep; to the heart: The truth of the accusation struck home.
  3. to the mark or point aimed at: He drove the point home.
  4. Nautical.
    1. into the position desired; perfectly or to the greatest possible extent: sails sheeted home.
    2. in the proper, stowed position: The anchor is home.
    3. toward its vessel: to bring the anchor home.
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verb (used without object), homed, hom·ing.
  1. to go or return home.
  2. (of guided missiles, aircraft, etc.) to proceed, especially under control of an automatic aiming mechanism, toward a specified target, as a plane, missile, or location (often followed by in on): The missile homed in on the target.
  3. to navigate toward a point by means of coordinates other than those given by altitudes.
  4. to have a home where specified; reside.
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verb (used with object), homed, hom·ing.
  1. to bring or send home.
  2. to provide with a home.
  3. to direct, especially under control of an automatic aiming device, toward an airport, target, etc.
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Idioms
  1. at home,
    1. in one's own house or place of residence.
    2. in one's own town or country.
    3. prepared or willing to receive social visits: Tell him I'm not at home. We are always at home to her.
    4. in a situation familiar to one; at ease: She has a way of making everyone feel at home.
    5. well-informed; proficient: to be at home in the classics.
    6. played in one's hometown or on one's own grounds: The Yankees played two games at home and one away.
  2. bring home to, to make evident to; clarify or emphasize for: The irrevocability of her decision was brought home to her.
  3. home and dry, British Informal. having safely achieved one's goal.
  4. home free,
    1. assured of finishing, accomplishing, succeeding, etc.: If we can finish more than half the work today, we'll be home free.
    2. certain to be successfully finished, accomplished, secured, etc.: With most of the voters supporting it, the new law is home free.
  5. write home about, to comment especially on; remark on: The town was nothing to write home about. His cooking is really something to write home about.
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Origin of home

before 900; Middle English hom, Old English hām (noun and adv.); cognate with Dutch heim, Old Norse heimr, Danish hjem, Swedish hem, German Heim home, Gothic haims village; akin to haunt
Related formsmin·i·home, noun
Can be confusedhome house (see synonym study at house)

Synonyms

See more synonyms for home on Thesaurus.com
1. abode, dwelling, habitation; domicile. See house. 2. hearth, fireside. 3. asylum.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for homing

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • As said before, the homing instinct of horses and cattle is very remarkable.

  • With day, like homing pigeons, they had returned to the camp.

    The Pools of Silence

    H. de Vere Stacpoole

  • Already the homing shells were out of sight; only the twin flares were visible.

    Gold in the Sky

    Alan Edward Nourse

  • That Ranger's got homing shells that could blow the Scavenger to splinters if we tried it.

    Gold in the Sky

    Alan Edward Nourse

  • Homing on this signal was so simple, a human pilot could have done it himself.

    Planet of the Damned

    Harry Harrison

British Dictionary definitions for homing

homing

noun (modifier)
  1. zoology relating to the ability to return home after travelling great distanceshoming instinct
  2. (of an aircraft, a missile, etc) capable of guiding itself onto a target or to a specified point
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Home

noun
  1. Baron See Home of the Hirsel
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home

noun
  1. the place or a place where one liveshave you no home to go to?
  2. a house or other dwelling
  3. a family or other group living in a house or other place
  4. a person's country, city, etc, esp viewed as a birthplace, a residence during one's early years, or a place dear to one
  5. the environment or habitat of a person or animal
  6. the place where something is invented, founded, or developedthe US is the home of baseball
    1. a building or organization set up to care for orphans, the aged, etc
    2. an informal name for a mental home
  8. sport one's own groundthe match is at home
    1. the objective towards which a player strives in certain sports
    2. an area where a player is safe from attack
  10. lacrosse
    1. one of two positions of play nearest the opponents' goal
    2. a player assigned to such a positioninside home
  11. baseball another name for home plate
  12. NZ informal, obsolete Britain, esp England
  13. a home from home a place other than one's own home where one can be at ease
  14. at home
    1. in one's own home or country
    2. at ease, as if at one's own home
    3. giving an informal party at one's own home
    4. Britishsuch a party
  15. at home in, at home on or at home with familiar or conversant with
  16. home and dry British informal definitely safe or successfulwe will not be home and dry until the votes have been counted Austral. and NZ equivalent: home and hosed
  17. near home concerning one deeply
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adjective (usually prenominal)
  1. of, relating to, or involving one's home, country, etc; domestic
  2. (of an activity) done in one's househome taping
  3. effective or deadlya home thrust
  4. sport relating to one's own grounda home game
  5. US central; principalthe company's home office
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adverb
  1. to or at homeI'll be home tomorrow
  2. to or on the point
  3. to the fullest extenthammer the nail home
  4. (of nautical gear) into or in the best or proper positionthe boom is home
  5. bring home to
    1. to make clear to
    2. to place the blame on
  6. come home nautical (of an anchor) to fail to hold
  7. come home to to become absolutely clear to
  8. nothing to write home about informal to be of no particular interestthe film was nothing to write home about
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verb
  1. (intr) (of birds and other animals) to return home accurately from a distance
  2. (often foll by on or onto) to direct or be directed onto a point or target, esp by automatic navigational aids
  3. to send or go home
  4. to furnish with or have a home
  5. (intr; often foll by in or in on) to be directed towards a goal, target, etc
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Derived Formshomelike, adjective

Word Origin

Old English hām; related to Old Norse heimr, Gothic haims, Old High German heim, Dutch heem, Greek kōmi village
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

Word Origin and History for homing

n.

"action of going home," 1765, in reference to pigeons, from present participle of home (v.). Homing pigeon attested by 1868.

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home

n.

Old English ham "dwelling, house, estate, village," from Proto-Germanic *haimaz (cf. Old Frisian hem "home, village," Old Norse heimr "residence, world," heima "home," Danish hjem, Middle Dutch heem, German heim "home," Gothic haims "village"), from PIE root *tkei- "to settle, dwell, be home" (cf. Sanskrit kseti "abides, dwells," Armenian shen "inhabited," Greek kome, Lithuanian kaimas "village;" Old Church Slavonic semija "domestic servants").

'Home' in the full range and feeling of [Modern English] home is a conception that belongs distinctively to the word home and some of its Gmc. cognates and is not covered by any single word in most of the IE languages. [Buck]

Home stretch (1841) is originally a reference from horse racing. Home base in baseball attested by 1859 (home plate by 1867; home as the goal in a sport or game is from 1778). Home economics first attested 1899. Slang phrase make (oneself) at home "become comfortable in a place one does not live" dates from 1892. To keep the home fires burning is from a song title from 1914. To be nothing to write home about "unremarkable" is from 1907. Home movie is from 1919; home computer is from 1967.

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home

v.

1765, "to go home," from home (n.). Meaning "be guided to a destination by radio signals, etc. (of missiles, aircraft, etc.) is from 1920; it had been used earlier in reference to pigeons (1862). Related: Homed; homing. Old English had hamian "to establish in a home."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with homing

home

In addition to the idioms beginning with home

  • home free
  • home in on
  • home run
  • home truth

also see:

  • at home
  • bring home
  • bring home the bacon
  • chickens come home to roost
  • close to home

Drive Homeeat someone out of house and homemake oneself at homenobody homenothing to write home abouttill the cows come home.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.