on the house
44
3.2
- idiom
:
gratis
- Your drink is on the house, then.
- a drink on the house
- a round on the house
- a dessert on the house
And someone at the airport who works at like Einstein bagels will be like this one's on the House.
- And someone at the airport who works at like Einstein bagels will be like this one's on the House.
- So they actually gave me an ADD with the kit lens to just give away on the House at no cost to me, no cost to you.
Examples
-
We'll hook you up with free admission to the event, a Zero Comp Shirt, and lunch each day, on the house!
Blog text (14) -
"How about a drink on the house?" The waiter was determined to make amends.
Fiction book (1993) -
A double for you, on the house.
-
One round on the house!
-
Drinks on the house at the bar.
-
The drinks are on the house.
-
No wonder everybody was happy: drinks had been on the house that night.
Fiction book (1997) -
The drinks are on the house, so Carrie and I settle on champagne.
Fiction book (1993) -
"The first one of the evening is on the house," Will told us in the walnut-paneled bar to which he escorted us after checking us in.
Fiction book (1999) -
No wonder everybody was happy: drinks had been on the house that night.
Synonyms
39
1.2
You do not have to pay for it
2
6.3
You get it without paying any money
Antonyms
How Expensive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'provided free of charge' cannot be derived from the literal meanings of 'on' (location) and 'house' (a building); the phrase depends on a metonymic/industry-specific use of 'house' meaning the establishment paying the bill. This hospitality idiom is not predictably compositional for a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words, so it is best treated as opaque.
Etymology
The idiom on the house may come from old inns and bars where the owner paid for a drink or meal and called it 'on the house' because the business itself covered the cost. So today, saying something is on the house means it is 'free' for the customer.