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Glite Dictionary
to bring down the house

to bring down the house

4 5.5
To make an audience clap and cheer loudly
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : hacer aplaudir
  • If we are gonna bring down the house, we're gonna need some backup.
  • just bring down the house

And then Rosie O'Donnell comment brought down the house when he made it.

Examples

  • Yeah, Buster Moon certainly brought down the house once and for all today.

    Sing (2016)

  • You know Taran Killam just brought down the house when he did this last little bit here.

    Night School (2018)

  • I always bring down the house.

    Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018)

  • This one brought down the house when we played it.

    Amadeus (1984)

  • You brought down the house.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Keyshia brought down the house with her latest single "Enough of No Love" and ...

    Blog text (1)

  • Keyshia brought down the house with her latest singles "Enough of No Love" and "Trust and Believe," Kelly Rowland turned up the heat with "Motivation," and Usher shared the stage with Rick Ross for "Lemme See."

    Blog text (25)

  • During the talent show, her beautiful singing really brought down the house.

  • The comedian's hilarious jokes brought down the house at the club last night.

  • When the choir finished their rendition of the classic, they brought down the house with thunderous applause.

Synonyms

to bring down
vsto bring down the house
  • Informal
2 5.4

Make an audience clap or cheer loudly

is stronger, causing louder or more prolonged audience applause
to bring the party
vsto bring down the house
  • Informal
1 6.5

Make a social event lively and fun

aims more at drawing loud audience approval than casual social fun
to bring the fun
vsto bring down the house
  • Informal
1 5.3

To make a party or event lively and enjoyable for people

seeks stronger audience applause and clear public admiration instead of casual fun
to seduce an audience
vsto bring down the house
1 6.7

Make an audience like you and pay close attention

prompts overt applause and louder public appreciation rather than just captivation
to bring on the fun
vsto bring down the house
  • Informal
1 3.6

To make people start having fun at a party or event

is about impressing an audience enough to earn enthusiastic prolonged applause
to bring to someone's feet
vsto bring down the house
6.7

To cause a group of people to stand and clap to show approval

focuses more on intense applause and wide audience admiration
to get a crowd going
vsto bring down the house
  • Informal
4.8

Make an audience feel excited and cheer

centres on impressive performance that wins loud applause rather than only energy
to burn the roof down
vsto bring down the house
  • Informal
8.7

Make a party very lively and exciting

relies more on audience applause and admiration than general event intensity

Antonyms

to disappoint
492 1.0

Fail to do what someone hoped for

to bore
15 1.4

To make someone feel tired or not interested by being dull when you speak

How Applauded

to bring down the house
  • Informal
4 5.5
to wow
  • Informal
37 3.6
to impress
457 2.8
to entertain
226 2.0
to please
216 1.0

Surface Forms

bring down the house infinitive
bringing down the house present participle
brings down the house third person singular
brought down the house past
brought down the house past participle

Morphology

bring + down + the + house

The sense 'to elicit enthusiastic applause' is based on a figurative mapping from 'bring' + 'down' (cause to fall/overwhelm) and 'house' (audience), so there are partial semantic cues in the constituents but they require cultural/idiomatic knowledge (that 'the house' can mean the audience and that 'bring down' can mean overwhelm). A B1 learner who knows the words would get some hint of a strong effect but would unlikely predict the specific meaning of loud applause without prior exposure.

Etymology

Bring down the house comes from old theaters where the 'house' meant the whole audience and the building, and a show so funny or powerful felt like it would make the crowd cheer so loudly it would 'bring the house down'. So today it means 'to get huge applause' or 'to amaze an audience'.