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to home

to home

3 7.0
To return to the place where an animal was born or lives
  • verb
  • /hoʊm/
  • Specialized
: volver
  • Cold War smart weapons could home in on an enemy's radar emitter or home in on the jamming signal.

Examples

  • The antibodies enable the anti-cancer missile to home in on cancer cells even if the nanoparticles are injected elsewhere in the body.

    Academic text (2010)
  • After being released, the trained falcon was able to home back to its handler with ease.

  • You know, pigeons, they they home so you can take them away, but then they come back home.

  • No, cousin, I'll home to Fife.

  • As Ramirez moves, he notices that the snowmobile changes direction as well and continues to home in on him.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Birds can home from hundreds of miles away to their nesting sites.

  • Using their natural instinct, many migratory species home each year to the same breeding grounds.

Synonyms

to go home
vsto home
∞ 1.0

To return to the place where you live

is animals returning precisely to a specific site rather than general movement
to head home
vsto home
128 1.5

Go back to your home after being somewhere else

is animals returning accurately from a distance rather than casual travel
to home in
vsto home
10 4.9

Move accurately toward a target or focus closely on a problem

is animals returning precisely to a familiar location from a distance
to return to roost
vsto home
1 4.8

Come back to the place where birds sleep after being away

is animals returning accurately to a specific location rather than only for sleep

Antonyms

75 2.8

To move away from the correct place or path and wander

Idioms

∞ 1.0

In the place where you live

178 1.0

In a situation where you feel comfortable and relaxed

59 1.8

On your team's own field when playing a game

Relax and act like you are at home

home sweet home
  • Informal
23 2.3

A warm, happy feeling when you are at your own home

Bad actions or words cause trouble for the person who did them later

10 4.4

To earn money to support your family

9 3.4

To have a big success people do not expect

Bad things you did before cause problems now

4 7.3

To be good or special enough to tell people at home about

4 7.5

Without a home because of a disaster or bad luck

3 8.5

For a very long time that seems to never end

Make the home warm and caring while someone is away

To eat so much at someone's home that they have almost no food left

home and dry
  • Informal
1 5.8

Someone has finished something safely and is not likely to fail

Looking awake but not paying attention or thinking clearly

Not very good or special

home and hosed
  • Informal
8.9

Sure of success and relieved after finishing a hard task

To leave a group or activity because you do not get your way

Leave a game or group angrily because you did not get your way

Phrasal Verbs

∞ 1.0

To return to the place where you live

493 1.0

Be at home and not go out

169 1.4

A place where people, animals, plants, or things are found

128 1.5

Go back to your home after being somewhere else

116 1.4

To move out of your parents' house to live by yourself

Be comfortable and relaxed as if in your own home

45 5.5

To make someone suddenly understand how serious something is

To seem comfortable and welcome, like in your own home

To teach a child at home instead of sending them to school

28 3.0

To receive pay from work after taxes and other deductions

25 4.0

To make a point very clear by saying it strongly

22 3.3

To earn money regularly for your family

17 3.7

To make someone understand something clearly

10 4.9

Move accurately toward a target or focus closely on a problem

To make an idea very clear by repeating it

Make meals in your own home to eat

Have a strong effect that makes someone suddenly understand

to come home
  • Informal
4 5.0

An idea or fact finally feels very clear and real to someone

1 7.4

To say something clearly and strongly so people understand it

Make a point strongly so other people understand or accept it

Push the Home button on a device to return to the main screen

1 6.2

To run home in a happy, playful way

Compounds

186 2.3

A hit that lets the batter run all the bases and score a run

163 2.9

A place where older people live and receive help with daily tasks and medical care

78 3.4

A place where people prepare a dead body for burial or cremation and say goodbye

74 2.6

A home where a child lives when their parents cannot care for them

56 4.1

Preferring to be at home rather than go out socially

53 2.3

A sports match played at a team's own stadium or field

36 3.4

The main office where a company or group does its work

36 5.9

Illegal entry into a house while people are inside to steal or hurt them

36 3.7

Made to be used at home rather than in a clinic or office

34 2.8

A short film a family makes at home to keep memories

home page
  • Texting
33 2.3

The main page of a website that appears when you open the site or your browser

33 1.9

The way a person lives and feels at home

30 2.5

A large house made in a factory that can be moved and has water and electricity

29 2.6

Money you borrow to buy a house that the bank can take if you do not pay

home care
  • Specialized
29 2.8

Care and help with medical and personal needs in a person's home for elderly or disabled people

home run
  • Informal
27 2.5

A very successful result that achieves its goal

26 1.3

A group of players who play at their own stadium with local fans

home plate
  • Jargon
23 3.6

A flat rubber base with five sides that a batter stands over and runners touch to score

22 2.8

A personal computer used at home for writing, games and the internet

21 2.3

A house you use during holidays, not your main home

20 2.0

A person who buys a house or flat to live in

A place where you feel as comfortable and relaxed as in your own house

19 3.0

A place where you feel as comfortable and relaxed as in your own house

A feeling of ease and relaxation when you are at home

17 3.0

A family where the parents do not live together and children often have problems

15 3.4

A large vehicle with a kitchen, bathroom, and beds for living while traveling

home ec
  • Informal
13 5.1

A school class that teaches cooking, sewing, and home skills

home office
  • Formal
13 3.0

A main office where a company's leaders work and make decisions

old folks' home
  • Informal
12 2.7

A place where older people who need help live and get care

12 2.7

A person or company that builds houses as a business

12 3.5

A baby born at home instead of in a hospital

home wrecker
  • Offensive
12 7.9

A person who has a romantic relationship with someone married or in a relationship, causing it to end

12 3.4

Money you get after taxes and other deductions

11 3.3

A set of speakers and a big screen at home for watching movies like in a cinema

11 4.9

People at home who work to support the country's soldiers during a war

11 3.0

The place where a sports team plays its own games for local fans

home screen
  • Texting
10 3.0

The first screen you see on a phone or app that shows apps and shortcuts

rest home
  • Archaic
10 3.4

A place where older people live and get care

The money you keep after taxes and other payments are taken out

8 5.9

A volunteer group of local people who protect their area when the army is away

home equity loan
  • Specialized
7 3.7

A loan that uses the value of your house to get money for big expenses

Home Secretary
  • Literature
7 4.6

A senior government minister who leads the Home Office and handles security, law and immigration

7 3.9

Beer made at home rather than bought from a shop

5 1.8

Fried potato pieces that are brown and crisp, often served with breakfast

5 3.0

A flat rubber square that the batter stands beside and runners touch to score

5 2.1

A classroom where students meet each morning for attendance and school notices with their teacher

5 3.7

A UK government department that handles immigration, security and police matters

A machine used at home for jobs like cooking, cleaning, or storing food

home rule
  • Formal
5 6.2

The right of a city or county to run its own local matters without central government control

4 4.2

A drink made at home rather than in a factory, like beer or cider

home port
  • Specialized
3 4.1

A place where a ship is registered and based

A school subject about running a home, like cooking, sewing, and managing money

3 1.3

Baked at home rather than bought in a shop

home equity credit
  • Specialized
3 5.6

A loan that uses the value of your home as security for big costs

3 5.7

A large, impressive house in the country owned by a rich family

2 3.6

A place where a person, group, or animal feels most comfortable, often a team's regular field

2 3.0

Services that clean and repair a house or apartment

2 3.2

A course you do at home instead of in a classroom

2 2.1

A warm comfortable place where you feel safe and relaxed

To change and repair a house so it looks and works better

home range
  • Specialized
2 5.6

The area an animal usually moves in to feed and rest each day

home territory
  • Specialized
2 3.9

An area where an animal usually lives and moves

Exercise and lessons done at home rather than in a gym or school

Home Loan Bank
  • Specialized
2 3.8

A regional bank that lends short-term money to local savings banks to support home loans

1 6.5

A place where young people who have broken the law stay temporarily under court supervision

1 3.9

A person who rarely goes out and prefers being at home

1 5.0

A series of games a team plays at its home stadium

home brew
  • Jargon
1 6.5

Unofficial programs or games made by hobbyists to run on commercial consoles

mental home
  • Archaic
1 6.1

A hospital for people who cannot look after themselves because of mental illness

home truth
  • Informal
1 6.5

A true but unpleasant fact about someone that they do not want to admit

1 5.1

People from the same town or area as you

Exercise you do at home instead of at a gym

1 7.0

Counties around London in southern England where many people travel to work

How Directly

to home
  • Specialized
3 7.0
to backtrail
1 6.8
to return
∞ 1.0
to wander
489 1.3

Surface Forms

home infinitive
homed past
homed past participle
homing present participle
homes third person singular

Etymology

Home The verb 'to home' (as with homing pigeons) comes from the idea of heim as the animal's own place, so to 'home' is to return exactly to your nest or origin. This is why animals can 'home' back to the place where they belong.