welcome mat
10
1.7
- noun
- /ˈwɛlkəm mæt/
:
felpudo
- When you arrive, please wipe your shoes on the welcome mat before entering.
- roll out the welcome mat
- put out a welcome mat
- lay out the welcome mat
It's like, you know, you know, it's like got a really small, small welcome mat, if it has one at all.
- It's like, you know, you know, it's like got a really small, small welcome mat, if it has one at all.
- Pay the bills, take care of my family, get my little box, my little house, put my little welcome mat on the front, put the little gate around the yard.
- Pay the bills, take care of my family, get my little box, get my little house, put my little welcome mat on the front, put the little gate around the yard.
- You know, that is, that's a welcome mat.
Examples
-
For a nation of immigrants, America has long been a bit grudging about putting out the welcome mat for newcomers.
Academic text (2002) -
I pry my boots off and push them close to the door, onto the welcome mat.
Fiction book (1997) -
The welcome mat was not out.
-
Put out a welcome mat for park visitors?
Blog text (20) -
Roll out the welcome mat.
Blog text (30) -
Well, the welcome mat's out.
-
Our love was as ordinary as the identical welcome mats found in the suburbs where we grew up.
Fiction book (1996) -
The welcome mat is out, and you're comin' home.
-
I returned home to a crooked welcome mat and a phantom noseprint on the sliding glass door leading into the kitchen.
Fiction book (2002) -
They didn't even know her, and they'd brought the brass band and the welcome mat.
Fiction book (2000)
Synonyms
How Welcoming
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a mat placed outside to greet visitors' is directly and compositionally derived from 'welcome' (inviting/greeting) modifying 'mat' (a floor covering). This is a literal, transparent noun–modifier compound following common cross-linguistic patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Welcome mat comes from the simple image of a mat placed at a door with the word 'welcome' on it. People wipe their shoes on it and it shows guests they are invited, so the phrase means the mat that greets visitors.