open house

American  

noun

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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Etymology

Origin of open house

First recorded in 1520–30

Example Sentences

Sometimes people spend the night — it’s an open house.

From Los Angeles Times

As a little girl growing up in Burbank, she remembers asking her mom to take her to open houses she’d find in the newspaper.

From Los Angeles Times

Scope out the neighborhood, learn what its homes are selling or renting for and stop by open houses for a sense of where you might live when the time comes.

From MarketWatch

“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

On his first day in the city, he stopped by an apartment open house in the Haight neighborhood.

From The Wall Street Journal