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Glite Dictionary
to greet at the door

to greet at the door

2.1
Meet someone at the door to welcome them
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : recibir en la puerta
  • Barris and Penny are greeted at the door by a real estate agent.

Examples

  • We were greeted at the door by Dr. Frankl's wife.

    Academic text (1999)

  • They were greeted at the door by an attractive young woman, not the same one Jesse had seen on his last visit to the house, and shown to Coldwater's study.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • We were greeted at the door by Dr. Frankl's wife with a warm smile.

  • Barris and Penny were greeted at the door by a friendly real estate agent.

  • At the party, guests are greeted at the door with drinks and appetizers.

Synonyms

to meet
vsto greet at the door
∞ 1.0

To go to a place to greet someone when they arrive

is done by going to the door and being the first to speak to them
to welcome
vsto greet at the door
583 1.0

Greet someone in a friendly way when they arrive

is done by going to the door immediately as they arrive
to receive
vsto greet at the door
173 1.6

To greet and welcome someone into a place or group

is about going to the entrance as someone arrives, not admitting them inside
to greet someone warmly
vsto greet at the door
2 1.8

Welcome someone with warm words and a smile

focuses on going to the entrance immediately rather than showing extra warmth

Antonyms

to ignore
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

to turn away
77 2.8

Refuse someone entry to a place or group

Surface Forms

greet at the door infinitive
greeted at the door past
greeted at the door past participle
greeting at the door present participle
greets at the door third person singular

Morphology

greet + at + the + door

The meaning 'to welcome someone immediately as they arrive' is directly derivable from 'greet' (to say hello) combined with the locative phrase 'at the door' indicating place of meeting. This is a straightforward compositional, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would understand the expression.

Etymology

Greet at the door comes from the image of someone standing at the door to welcome a visitor with a friendly hello as they arrive. So it means 'to welcome someone right away as they come in'.