to come home
4
5.0
- phrasal verb
- /kʌm hoʊm/
- Informal
- come home to the self
Examples
-
I felt truly as if I had come out of my own waiting place and come home.
Fiction book (1994) -
I sent a telegram begging her to come home.
-
She'd tell me all she'd wanted was for him to know he could still come home.
Fiction book (1994) -
I can't come home right now.
-
Then, after five long years, Mina came home with her girlfriend.
Academic text (2018) -
Once he came home, we redoubled our efforts, already intense, to find a haven.
Academic text (1998) -
The cold truth finally came home to her, unfolding in the center of her body, crowding out her breath.
Fiction book (2000) -
For the first time since his daughter had come home, Perin smiled, remembering.
Fiction book (1994) -
Come home often feels like a relief when the struggles of the day finally fade away.
-
After years of living abroad, it was such a joy to come home and see my family again.
Synonyms
61
3.4
Suddenly become clear and easy to understand in your mind
60
4.1
To slowly understand and accept something
53
3.6
To begin to be understood and become clear
48
3.1
To make an idea or feeling understood by someone
43
3.9
To become clear and easy to understand after confusion
How Clear
45
5.5
- Informal
4
5.0
- Informal
60
4.1
47
3.7
86
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal senses of 'come' (arrive) and 'home' (to/toward home) provide a metaphorical basis—arriving at a mental 'home' or conclusion—so there is a visible compositional link. However, the specific idiomatic sense 'to become fully clear or strongly felt' is a figurative extension that many B1 learners who only know the constituent words are unlikely to predict without prior exposure.
Etymology
Come home paints a simple picture: a piece of news or a message finally arriving at your home, like a letter or visitor that reaches you and cannot be ignored. So, when something comes home to you, it reaches your mind or feelings and you 'become fully clear or strongly feel it'.