to bring down the house

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
House \House\ (hous), n.; pl. {Houses}. [OE. hous, hus, AS. h?s;
   akin to OS. & OFries. h?s, D. huis, OHG. h?s, G. haus, Icel.
   h?s, Sw. hus, Dan. huus, Goth. gudh?s, house of God, temple;
   and prob. to E. hide to conceal. See {Hide}, and cf. {Hoard},
   {Husband}, {Hussy}, {Husting}.]
   1. A structure intended or used as a habitation or shelter
      for animals of any kind; but especially, a building or
      edifice for the habitation of man; a dwelling place, a
      mansion.
      [1913 Webster]

            Houses are built to live in; not to look on.
                                                  --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

            Bees with smoke and doves with noisome stench
            Are from their hives and houses driven away. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Household affairs; domestic concerns; particularly in the
      phrase to keep house. See below.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Those who dwell in the same house; a household.
      [1913 Webster]

            One that feared God with all his house. --Acts x. 2.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A family of ancestors, descendants, and kindred; a race of
      persons from the same stock; a tribe; especially, a noble
      family or an illustrious race; as, the house of Austria;
      the house of Hanover; the house of Israel.
      [1913 Webster]

            The last remaining pillar of their house,
            The one transmitter of their ancient name.
                                                  --Tennyson.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. One of the estates of a kingdom or other government
      assembled in parliament or legislature; a body of men
      united in a legislative capacity; as, the House of Lords;
      the House of Commons; the House of Representatives; also,
      a quorum of such a body. See {Congress}, and {Parliament}.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. (Com.) A firm, or commercial establishment.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. A public house; an inn; a hotel.
      [1913 Webster]

   8. (Astrol.) A twelfth part of the heavens, as divided by six
      circles intersecting at the north and south points of the
      horizon, used by astrologers in noting the positions of
      the heavenly bodies, and casting horoscopes or nativities.
      The houses were regarded as fixed in respect to the
      horizon, and numbered from the one at the eastern horizon,
      called the ascendant, first house, or house of life,
      downward, or in the direction of the earth's revolution,
      the stars and planets passing through them in the reverse
      order every twenty-four hours.
      [1913 Webster]

   9. A square on a chessboard, regarded as the proper place of
      a piece.
      [1913 Webster]

   10. An audience; an assembly of hearers, as at a lecture, a
       theater, etc.; as, a thin or a full house.
       [1913 Webster]

   11. The body, as the habitation of the soul.
       [1913 Webster]

             This mortal house I'll ruin,
             Do C[ae]sar what he can.             --Shak.
       [1913 Webster]

   12.

   Usage: [With an adj., as narrow, dark, etc.] The grave. "The
          narrow house." --Bryant.
          [1913 Webster]

   Note: House is much used adjectively and as the first element
         of compounds. The sense is usually obvious; as, house
         cricket, housemaid, house painter, housework.
         [1913 Webster]

   {House ant} (Zool.), a very small, yellowish brown ant
      ({Myrmica molesta}), which often infests houses, and
      sometimes becomes a great pest.

   {House of bishops} (Prot. Epis. Ch.), one of the two bodies
      composing a general convertion, the other being House of
      Clerical and Lay Deputies.

   {House boat}, a covered boat used as a dwelling.

   {House of call}, a place, usually a public house, where
      journeymen connected with a particular trade assemble when
      out of work, ready for the call of employers. [Eng.]

   {To bring down the house}. See under {Bring}.

   {To keep house}, to maintain an independent domestic
      establishment.

   {To keep open house}, to entertain friends at all times.

   Syn: Dwelling; residence; abode. See {Tenement}.
        [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Bring \Bring\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Brought}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Bringing}.] [OE. bringen, AS. bringan; akin to OS. brengian,
   D. brengen, Fries. brenga, OHG. bringan, G. bringen, Goth.
   briggan.]
   1. To convey to the place where the speaker is or is to be;
      to bear from a more distant to a nearer place; to fetch.
      [1913 Webster]

            And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her,
            and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread.
                                                  --1 Kings
                                                  xvii. 11.
      [1913 Webster]

            To France shall we convey you safe,
            And bring you back.                   --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To cause the accession or obtaining of; to procure; to
      make to come; to produce; to draw to.
      [1913 Webster]

            There is nothing will bring you more honor . . .
            than to do what right in justice you may. --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To convey; to move; to carry or conduct.
      [1913 Webster]

            In distillation, the water . . . brings over with it
            some part of the oil of vitriol.      --Sir I.
                                                  Newton.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To persuade; to induce; to draw; to lead; to guide.
      [1913 Webster]

            It seems so preposterous a thing . . . that they do
            not easily bring themselves to it.    --Locke.
      [1913 Webster]

            The nature of the things . . . would not suffer him
            to think otherwise, how, or whensoever, he is
            brought to reflect on them.           --Locke.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To produce in exchange; to sell for; to fetch; as, what
      does coal bring per ton?
      [1913 Webster]

   {To bring about}, to bring to pass; to effect; to accomplish.
      

   {To bring back}.
      (a) To recall.
      (b) To restore, as something borrowed, to its owner.

   {To bring by the lee} (Naut.), to incline so rapidly to
      leeward of the course, when a ship sails large, as to
      bring the lee side suddenly to the windward, any by laying
      the sails aback, expose her to danger of upsetting.

   {To bring down}.
      (a) To cause to come down.
      (b) To humble or abase; as, to bring down high looks.

   {To bring down the house}, to cause tremendous applause.
      [Colloq.]

   {To bring forth}.
      (a) To produce, as young fruit.
      (b) To bring to light; to make manifest.

   {To bring forward}
      (a) To exhibit; to introduce; to produce to view.
      (b) To hasten; to promote; to forward.
      (c) To propose; to adduce; as, to bring forward arguments.
          

   {To bring home}.
      (a) To bring to one's house.
      (b) To prove conclusively; as, to bring home a charge of
          treason.
      (c) To cause one to feel or appreciate by personal
          experience.
      (d) (Naut.) To lift of its place, as an anchor.

   {To bring in}.
      (a) To fetch from without; to import.
      (b) To introduce, as a bill in a deliberative assembly.
      (c) To return or repot to, or lay before, a court or other
          body; to render; as, to bring in a verdict or a
          report.
      (d) To take to an appointed place of deposit or
          collection; as, to bring in provisions or money for a
          specified object.
      (e) To produce, as income.
      (f) To induce to join.

   {To bring off}, to bear or convey away; to clear from
      condemnation; to cause to escape.

   {To bring on}.
      (a) To cause to begin.
      (b) To originate or cause to exist; as, to bring on a
          disease.

   {To bring one on one's way}, to accompany, guide, or attend
      one.

   {To bring out}, to expose; to detect; to bring to light from
      concealment.

   {To bring over}.
      (a) To fetch or bear across.
      (b) To convert by persuasion or other means; to cause to
          change sides or an opinion.

   {To bring to}.
      (a) To resuscitate; to bring back to consciousness or
          life, as a fainting person.
      (b) (Naut.) To check the course of, as of a ship, by
          dropping the anchor, or by counterbracing the sails so
          as to keep her nearly stationary (she is then said to
          lie to).
      (c) To cause (a vessel) to lie to, as by firing across her
          course.
      (d) To apply a rope to the capstan.

   {To bring to light}, to disclose; to discover; to make clear;
      to reveal.

   {To bring a sail to} (Naut.), to bend it to the yard.

   {To bring to pass}, to accomplish to effect. "Trust also in
      Him; and He shall bring it to pass." --Ps. xxxvii. 5.

   {To bring under}, to subdue; to restrain; to reduce to
      obedience.

   {To bring up}.
      (a) To carry upward; to nurse; to rear; to educate.
      (b) To cause to stop suddenly.
      (c)

   Note: [v. i. by dropping the reflexive pronoun] To stop
         suddenly; to come to a standstill. [Colloq.]

   {To bring up (any one) with a round turn}, to cause (any one)
      to stop abruptly. [Colloq.]

   {To be brought to bed}. See under {Bed}.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: To fetch; bear; carry; convey; transport; import;
        procure; produce; cause; adduce; induce.
        [1913 Webster]
    

[email protected]