| 释义 |
at home, at-home, advb. phr. and n.|ætˈhəʊm|
Also 1 æt hám, 3 atom.
[See at prep. and home.]
A. advb. phr.
1. At one's home, in one's own house.
a1000Beowulf 2500 Ge æt hám ᵹe on herᵹe. c1225St. Margarete 180 Þe were betere habbe bileued atom. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour E j b, Ryote and noyse shalle all day be at home. 1711Steele Spect. No. 24 ⁋6 The Misfortune of never finding one another at home. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop vi, There was only Mrs. Quilp at home.
b. Prepared to receive visitors accessible to callers.
1829Warren Diary Physic. xix, The servant brought up the cards of several of his late colleagues. ‘Not at home, sirrah! Harkee— ill—ill,’ thundered his master. 1880Etiq. of Good Soc. 103 In the country a bride's first appearance in church is taken as a sign that she is ‘At home.’ 1883J. Hatton in Harper's Mag. Nov. 830/2 The President makes it a point to be ‘at home’ on Sunday afternoons.
2. (As opposed to abroad):
a. In one's immediate neighbourhood, near at hand.
b. In one's own country.
c885K. ælfred Oros. i. x. §3 Oþer æt ham beon heora lond to healdanne. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. i. 134 No newes so bad abroad as this at home. 1884Daily News 5 Feb. 4/8 Everything..done by the Government at home and abroad.
3. At ease, as if in one's own home. Hence fig. Thoroughly familiar or conversant with, well-practised in. Hence also at-homeish, -ly, -ness, at-home-ness, etc.
1840Dickens Old C. Shop vi, That kind of acting had been rendered familiar to him by long practice, and he was quite at home in it. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 365 They never felt themselves at home in our island. Mod. His genial manner made me feel quite at home with him. 1843Lever J. Hinton I. 135 Whose..indescribable air of at-homeishness bespoke them as the friends of the family. 1880Dimplethorpe II. 66 What an air of at-home-ness there was about her.
4. Cribbage. See home n.1
B. n. A reception of visitors, for whose entertainment the host or hostess, or both, have announced that they will be ‘At home’ during certain hours, in the course of which the visitors may call and leave as they please.
1745H. Walpole Lett. G. Montagu 12 Lady Granville, and the dowager Strafford have their At-home's, and amass company. 1883J. Hatton in Harper's Mag. Nov. 844/2 Among the notable ‘at homes’ of London..are the Tuesdays at Mr. Alma-Tadema's. |