at home

at home

1. Literally, in one's place of residence. I was at home all day and the repairman never came. I'm at home now, so feel free to come over.
2. Very comfortable or proficient in a particular area. My mother is at home in the kitchen and can make just about any dish.
3. Matching or suiting a particular environment. Considering her aesthetic, I think that antique chair would be at home in her store.
4. Of a sports team, playing in one's home arena or field, as opposed to one's opponent's facility. The Yankees have been on the road for a while now. When will they be at home again?
See also: home
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

at home

at or in one's dwelling. Is Mary at home, or is she still at work? What time will she be at home?
See also: home
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

at home

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.
See also: home
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

at home

COMMON
1. If you feel at home in a particular place or situation, you feel relaxed, comfortable, and happy. The girls seem to be quite at home here and I'm sure they will settle in very well after all the excitement dies down. Melanie is equally at home singing classical music, jazz or performing in musical theatre.
2. If someone or something looks at home somewhere, they look as if it is natural and appropriate for them to be there. The 16-year-old's huge shoulder and arm muscles would look more at home on a male hammer thrower. Le Moulin's painted chairs are typically French, but would look quite at home in an English country kitchen.
See also: home
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

at ˈhome


1 (feeling) comfortable or relaxed, as if you are in your own home: I like the city. I feel at home here. Come in and make yourself at home while I finish cooking the dinner.
2 (of a sports event) at your own ground, club, etc: We’re at home to Oxford United on Saturday, and the week after we’re away to Luton.
3 (of a subject, topic of conversation, etc.) know about and feel confident discussing something: I’m not really at home with French literature. My speciality is the language.
See also: home
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

at home

1. Available to receive visitors: at home on Thursdays.
2. Comfortable and relaxed; at ease: at home in diplomatic circles.
3. Feeling an easy competence and familiarity: at home in French.
See also: home
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • be at home
  • come home from (some place or something)
  • come home from some place
  • come home
  • get home to
  • get home to (someone or something)
  • bring (something) home (to someone)
  • bring home to
  • bring something home
  • bring something home to somebody
References in periodicals archive
You can talk with trained representatives about setting up shop at home (800-700-1100).
Building a successful home-based business
"Virtually every person we deal with would rather stay in his or her own home," says Brian Swinton, who heads the At Home program.
Your place or theirs?: Facility-based providers are bringing the nursing home. (Cover Story)
Taxpayers working out of their home offices, but usually performing services elsewhere, must now support their home office deductions by proving that they perform their most important and significant work at home. Taxpayers affected by the decision include:
Supreme Court develops new test for home office deductions
The activities he performed at home, billing patients and scheduling surgery, were essential to his practice, although not necessarily directly related to his primary income-generating services as an anesthesiologist.
Lifting the cloud on home office deductions; a recent Tax Court decision means more taxpayers can deduct home office expenses - maybe
Friends Life Care at Home was founded in 1985 by two Quaker-based organizations: Jeanes Hospital and Foulkeways, a pioneer continuing-care retirement community (CCRC) in the Philadelphia area.
Futurescape: long-term care "without walls."(Not-for-Profit Report)
Most people smell a meal being cooked at home before it is served.
Home-like: it's more than carpeting and chintz
On the other hand, it enables hospitals to discharge elderly patients, who have no care provider at home, safely and responsibly to a nursing home.
What it takes to start an infusion therapy program
The Home encourages new residents to bring their own personal possessions, for these familiar things help them feel at home quickly."
A resident who advocates - for residents
From age 16 to 19, he worked in his brother's Queens, New York, barbershop, saving money while he lived at home with his mother.
Managing your home equity line: Todd Brown used credit to build his real estate business
Whether or not you hit one of the many lesbian and gay film festivals going on around the country, you can have your own at home with the sexy Leaving Metropolis (Wolfe Home Video); the Mexican family drama The City of No Limits (Fox Home Entertainment); and the lesbian softball romance Maggie & Annie (Culture Q Connection).
Pour me a video: it's too darn hot outside, so take off that wet bathing suit and slip into some fun summer DVDs
Japanese video game maker Sega, facing a shrinking youth market at home, is putting more emphasis on sports games popular in the US.
Selling to seniors: the "grey panthers" duke it out with the rip-off artists in Japan's new growth market
* In a statewide poll, 77 percent of responding Michigan residents said they would rather receive long term care at home .
Assisted living, nursing homes strike sour note with America's elderly. (The Nation)
* Provides equipment and technical support to its workers at home.
Home is where the office is: CPAs in small and midsize firms say telecommuting is changing the boundaries of the office
Compared with women who plan to have their baby delivered in a hospital, women who intend to have their baby delivered by a professional provider at home have a greater likelihood of complications during and after labor and delivery, and their newborn has an increased risk of compromised health.
Health of mothers, babies may be compromised in planned home births. (Digests)
More than a million children are taught at home, more than now attend charter schools.
Women's work: mothers sustain the home-schooling movement. (Book Review)