warm welcome, a

A welcome to someone or something that is particularly enthusiastic and positive. The whole town turned out to give the returning war heroes a warm welcome. The new policy hasn't exactly gotten a warm welcome from citizens.

A hearty, hospitable reception or greeting, as in We got a very warm welcome when we finally arrived. This expression, dating from the mid-1700s, should not be confused with the similar warm reception, which from about 1700 signified a hostile welcome, as in His rivals were planning a warm reception for him.

An enthusiastic greeting. This term has been around since at least the mid-eighteenth century, and perhaps much longer. “Whoe’er has travell’d life’s dull round, May sigh to think he still has found the warmest welcome at an inn,” wrote William Shenstone (Written at an Inn at Henley, ca. 1763). A very similar cliché, a warm reception, often has just the opposite meaning—that is, a greeting full of hostility.