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/hoʊm/
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A place of residence, family life, care, belonging, origin, or base, with extended uses for digital starts, game goals, targeting, domestic contrast, and movement or force toward a final point.
Examples The home crowd booed the decision.
He came from a musical home where everyone sang.
The navy remained in home waters.
They planned to make the cottage their permanent home .
The missile homed in on the radar signal.
Similar words find the way
host
place
birthplace
navigate
start page
domestic
place
migrate
main page
Meanings Usage Use home when the place matters as someone's living space or personal base, not only as a type of building.
Examples After months away, she was glad to be back in her own home .
They saved for years before buying their first home .
The storm damaged hundreds of homes along the coast.
He left home at eighteen and rented a small room.
Their home is warm, crowded, and full of books.
The charity helps families who have no permanent home .
They planned to make the cottage their permanent home .
Common mistakes The preposition to is added after movement verbs even though home already carries direction.
Incorrect Correct I went to home after work.
I went home after work.
She stayed in home all day.
She stayed at home all day.
They bought a home of three bedrooms.
They bought a three-bedroom home.
Similar words residence
dwelling
house
apartment
place
abode
Usage Use home for the family environment behind phrases such as a loving home, a broken home, or a stable home life.
Examples The children needed a safe and loving home .
He came from a musical home where everyone sang.
A stable home can make school feel less overwhelming.
She worked hard to build a peaceful home for her family.
The report studied children from single-parent homes .
He rarely talked about his unhappy home .
They wanted their foster daughter to feel she had a real home .
Common mistakes House is used when the intended meaning is the family environment.
Incorrect Correct She grew up in a loving house.
She grew up in a loving home.
He came from a violent family house.
He came from a violent home.
The child needs a secure apartment.
The child needs a secure home.
Similar words household
family
upbringing
domestic life
home life
Usage Use home in compounds such as care home, children's home, nursing home, or dogs' home when the place provides care as well as lodging.
Examples She moved into a nursing home after the operation.
The charity runs a home for children who need protection.
They adopted a terrier from the dogs' home .
The care home has trained nurses on duty all night.
Volunteers brought blankets to the cats' home .
The new home gives young adults support while they study.
Inspectors praised the retirement home for its calm atmosphere.
Common mistakes Home is left too vague when the kind of care place needs to be named.
Incorrect Correct My grandmother lives in a home.
My grandmother lives in a care home.
They adopted the dog from a home.
They adopted the dog from a dogs' home.
The children were placed in house care.
The children were placed in a children's home.
Similar words care home
nursing home
shelter
residential home
refuge
Usage Use home for a place of origin, belonging, habitat, source, base, or suitable keeping place when that link matters more than a neutral location.
Examples After years abroad, Greece still felt like home .
The reef is home to hundreds of species.
New Orleans is often called the home of jazz.
The museum is home to a remarkable textile collection.
We finally found a home for the extra chairs.
He calls Chicago home , though he was born in Denver.
The archive gave the letters a safe home .
Common mistakes Home of , home to , and at home are mixed when the relationship to a place changes.
Incorrect Correct I feel home in this city.
I feel at home in this city.
The Rockies are house to many bears.
The Rockies are home to many bears.
New Orleans is home for jazz.
New Orleans is the home of jazz.
Similar words habitat base
origin
birthplace
setting
place
Usage Use home for a navigation control or top-level screen, and use homepage when the full website page is meant.
Examples Tap home to return to the main screen.
The home button sits at the bottom of the app.
The website's home loads faster after the redesign.
Users can reach settings from home .
The home screen shows today's appointments.
A search box appears on home .
The designer simplified the home navigation.
Common mistakes Home and homepage are treated as fully interchangeable in contexts where one is more natural.
Incorrect Correct The article is on the home.
The article is on the homepage.
Tap homepage to return to the main screen.
Tap home to return to the main screen.
Our home has three broken links.
Our homepage has three broken links.
Similar words homepage
home screen
main page
start page
front page
landing page
Usage Use home mainly as shorthand for home directory or home folder in computing contexts.
Examples The script writes a log file in your home directory.
Check home for hidden configuration files.
The backup includes each user's home folder.
Permissions in home were changed by mistake.
The shell opened in home after login.
Move the archive out of home before reinstalling.
A missing file in home caused the program to fail.
Common mistakes Home is used without enough computing context.
Incorrect Correct Save it in home.
Save it in your home directory.
The home is almost full.
The home directory is almost full.
My home is on the desktop.
My home folder is on the computer.
Similar words home directory
home folder
user directory
profile folder
user folder
Usage Use home for home plate when baseball or softball is clear, and for the scoring goal in similar games.
Examples The runner slid safely into home .
A perfect throw beat him to home .
She crossed home with the winning run.
The catcher blocked home with his left foot.
The umpire called him out at home .
A sacrifice fly brought the runner home .
The coach waved two players toward home .
Common mistakes Home is treated like an ordinary destination when the scoring base is meant.
Incorrect Correct He scored in home.
He scored at home.
The throw went to the house.
The throw went to home.
She touched the home base.
She touched home plate.
Similar words home plate
plate
home base
goal Usage Use home for animals, birds, and similar subjects that find their way back to a native place.
Examples The salmon home to the river where they hatched.
Migrating birds can home across astonishing distances.
The pigeon homed to its loft after the race.
Scientists studied how turtles home to their nesting beaches.
The bees homed by following landmarks and scent.
Some animals home with remarkable accuracy.
The tagged seal homed back to the same bay.
Common mistakes Home is confused with the ordinary phrase go home .
Incorrect Correct I homed after work.
I went home after work.
The salmon went home to spawn.
The salmon homed to the river to spawn.
The pigeon homed at the nest.
The pigeon homed to the nest.
Similar words return
navigate
migrate
come back
find the way
Usage Use home mostly in the phrase home in on for missiles, devices, animals, or attention moving toward a target.
Examples The missile homed in on the radar signal.
The drone homes in on a landing beacon.
The camera homed in on the actor's face.
Investigators homed in on a single suspect.
The software homes in on the strongest signal.
The dog homed in on the familiar scent.
The discussion homed in on the real problem.
Common mistakes Hone in on is often used where the standard form is home in on .
Incorrect Correct The missile honed in on the target.
The missile homed in on the target.
The missile home on the signal.
The missile homes in on the signal.
The camera homed at the subject.
The camera homed in on the subject.
Similar words target
focus zero in
lock on
aim
track
Usage Use home as a verb when the focus is placing someone or something in a suitable home, usually in formal or organizational wording.
Examples The rescue centre homed three kittens with careful owners.
The charity hopes to home every dog before winter.
Several families offered to home refugees for a few weeks.
The archive homed the collection in a climate-controlled room.
They struggled to home the old piano after the hall closed.
The sanctuary homes injured birds until they can be released.
A local museum homed the paintings after the gallery shut.
Common mistakes Home is used as a general verb for ordinary travel instead of meaning provide with a home.
Incorrect Correct The shelter homed the dog to the park.
The shelter homed the dog with a local family.
We homed after dinner.
We went home after dinner.
The charity housed the files in new folders.
The charity found the files a new home in the archive.
Similar words house
shelter
accommodate
place
lodge
take in
Usage Use home before a noun in phrases such as home address, home cooking, home computer, and home delivery.
Examples Please write your home address clearly.
The company offers free home delivery.
She missed her mother's home cooking.
The course includes classroom and home study.
A home printer is enough for basic documents.
They installed a new home security system.
The doctor made a home visit that afternoon.
Common mistakes Home is placed after the noun even though this adjective normally comes before it.
Incorrect Correct My address home changed.
My home address changed.
She bought insurance home.
She bought home insurance.
This remedy home worked well.
This home remedy worked well.
Similar words domestic
household
residential
personal
family
Usage Use home before nouns such as market, affairs, waters, team, game, crowd, and ground when the contrast is with foreign or away.
Examples The company sells most of its products in the home market.
The minister answered questions on home affairs.
The navy remained in home waters.
The home team scored first.
They lost their final home game.
The home crowd booed the decision.
The fixture list gives them three home matches in a row.
Common mistakes Home is mistaken for a private house when it marks the local, national, or host side.
Incorrect Correct The home market is the housing market.
The home market is the domestic market.
The team home won easily.
The home team won easily.
The ship stayed in house waters.
The ship stayed in home waters.
Similar words domestic
national
local
host
resident
Usage Use home directly after verbs of movement or being, without to , when the direction or location is someone's home.
Examples We walked home after the concert.
He drove home in silence.
The children came home covered in mud.
She stayed home on Friday night.
Please call me when you get home safely.
The train finally brought us home .
Call me when you are home .
Common mistakes To home is added after go, come, drive, or walk.
Incorrect Correct We walked to home after dinner.
We walked home after dinner.
Are you going to home now?
Are you going home now?
She arrived to home late.
She arrived home late.
Similar words homeward
back
inside
indoors
Usage Use home in fixed phrases such as drive the nail home, press the advantage home, or the truth hit home.
Examples He drove the peg home with one blow.
The documentary brought the crisis home to viewers.
Her warning finally hit home .
The striker drove the ball home from close range.
The figures pressed home the scale of the loss.
His absence made the truth come home to her.
The lawyer hammered the point home in closing arguments.
Common mistakes Home is interpreted as a place to live when the phrase means final position or strong effect.
Incorrect Correct The speech hit my home.
The speech hit home.
He drove the nail to home.
He drove the nail home.
The report brought home me the risk.
The report brought the risk home to me.
Usage Use home first for where someone lives or belongs, then let context show whether it means a care place, source, base, screen, target, adjective, or adverb.
Common mistakes To home is added after movement verbs, although standard English says go home , come home , and walk home .
Etymology From Old English hām , a dwelling, village, or estate, from a Germanic source related to Dutch heem and German Heim .
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