home

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
home/həʊm/

▶noun

• 1 the place where one lives permanently.

  ■ a house or flat.

• 2 an institution for people needing professional care.

• 3 a place where something flourishes or from which it originated.

• 4 the finishing point in a race.

• 5 (in games) the place where a player is free from attack.

• 6 (in lacrosse) each of the three players nearest their opponents' goal.

▶adjective

• 1 relating to one's home.

  ■ made, done, or intended for use in the home.

• 2 relating to one's own country.

• 3 (of a team or player) belonging to the place in which a sporting event occurs.

  ■ played on a team's own ground.

▶adverb

• 1 to or at one's home.

• 2 to the end or conclusion of something.

• 3 to the intended or correct position: he slid the bolt home.

▶verb

• 1 (of an animal) return by instinct to its territory.

• 2 (home in on) move or be aimed towards.

• 3 provide (a pet) with a home.

– phrases
at home

• 1 comfortable and at ease.

• 2 ready to receive visitors.

bring something home to make (someone) realize the significance of something.
close (or near) to home (of a remark) accurate to the point that one feels uncomfortable.
come home Golf play the last nine holes in a round of eighteen.
drive (or hammer) something home stress a point forcefully.
hit (or strike) home (of words) have the intended effect.

■ (of the significance of a situation) be fully realized.

home and dry (N. Amer. home free, Austral./NZ home and hosed) having achieved one's objective.
(a) home from (or N. Amer. away from) home a place where one feels as comfortable as in one's own home.

– derivatives
homeless adjective,
homelessness noun,
homelike adjective.

– origin OE hām, of Gmc origin.