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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

Four of the eight co-authors are employees of a company called Million Marker Wellness, Inc., which sells at-home plastic exposure testing kits for $399 each “as seen on Netflix’s The Plastic Detox.”

From Slate • Apr. 16, 2026

“Many consumers are directing discretionary spend toward out-of-home experiences, with live entertainment and sports growing at an outsized pace relative to at-home counterparts,” analyst Robert Fishman wrote in a note to clients.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026

I’ve started shopping at the same local grocers that supply those kitchens and trying my hand at simpler, at-home versions—nothing fussy, just borrowing the logic of the flavors.

From Salon • Mar. 25, 2026

Prescriptions dispensed by pharmacies, including for at-home use, rose more than eightfold in the first nine months of 2025 compared with all of 2024, according to the Iqvia Institute for Human Data Science.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

He grinned confidingly and sank down on my cot, leaning on his elbow in a relaxed, at-home way.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

Related Words

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