open house

American  

noun

open houses plural

1. a party or reception during which anyone who wishes may visit to share in a celebration, meet a special guest, etc.

2. a time during which a school, institution, etc., is open to the public for exhibition or for some specific occasion.

3. a house hospitably open to all friends who may wish to visit it.

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idioms

1. keep open house, to be prepared to entertain visitors at any time.

   They keep open house for artists and writers.

open house British  

noun

1. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): open day.   at-home.  an occasion on which an institution, such as a school, is open for inspection by the public

2. to be always ready to provide hospitality

3. a house available for inspection by prospective buyers

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• open houses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of open house

First recorded in 1520–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

open house

"It was an open house... by the end, there were probably 250 people there. It really felt special."

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

“You’d see the enthusiastic eighth-grader dragging the skeptical parents” to open house events years ago, said Tom Hickey, the superintendent of South Shore Regional Vocational Technical High School.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025

Getting into the holiday spirit: This year, local vintage store owners are collaborating on a special open house that aims to collect food and donations for needy families.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 6, 2025

Her open house is very different to a gallery experience.

From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025

I now saw quite clearly that Mrs. Willard had simply traded her open house in Russia for my bite to eat in New York.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath