homing

[hoh-ming] /ˈhoʊ mɪŋ/
adjective
1.
capable of returning home, usually over a great distance:
We saw the homing birds at dusk.
2.
guiding or directing homeward or to a destination, especially by mechanical means:
the homing instinct; a homing beacon.
Origin
1860-65; home + -ing2

home

[hohm] /hoʊm/
noun
1.
a house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household.
2.
the place in which one's domestic affections are centered.
3.
an institution for the homeless, sick, etc.:
a nursing home.
4.
the dwelling place or retreat of an animal.
5.
the place or region where something is native or most common.
6.
any place of residence or refuge:
a heavenly home.
7.
a person's native place or own country.
8.
(in games) the destination or goal.
9.
a principal base of operations or activities:
The new stadium will be the home of the local football team.
10.
Baseball. home plate.
11.
Lacrosse. one of three attack positions nearest the opposing goal.
adjective
12.
of, pertaining to, or connected with one's home or country; domestic:
home products.
13.
principal or main:
the corporation's home office.
14.
reaching the mark aimed at:
a home thrust.
15.
Sports. played in a ball park, arena, or the like, that is or is assumed to be the center of operations of a team:
The pitcher didn't lose a single home game all season.
Compare away (def 11).
adverb
16.
to, toward, or at home:
to go home.
17.
deep; to the heart:
The truth of the accusation struck home.
18.
to the mark or point aimed at:
He drove the point home.
19.
Nautical.
  1. into the position desired; perfectly or to the greatest possible extent:
    sails sheeted home.
  2. in the proper, stowed position:
    The anchor is home.
  3. toward its vessel:
    to bring the anchor home.
verb (used without object), homed, homing.
20.
to go or return home.
21.
(of guided missiles, aircraft, etc.) to proceed, especially under control of an automatic aiming mechanism, toward a specified target, as a plane, missile, or location (often followed by in on):
The missile homed in on the target.
22.
to navigate toward a point by means of coordinates other than those given by altitudes.
23.
to have a home where specified; reside.
verb (used with object), homed, homing.
24.
to bring or send home.
25.
to provide with a home.
26.
to direct, especially under control of an automatic aiming device, toward an airport, target, etc.
Idioms
27.
at home,
  1. in one's own house or place of residence.
  2. in one's own town or country.
  3. prepared or willing to receive social visits:
    Tell him I'm not at home. We are always at home to her.
  4. in a situation familiar to one; at ease:
    She has a way of making everyone feel at home.
  5. well-informed; proficient:
    to be at home in the classics.
  6. played in one's hometown or on one's own grounds:
    The Yankees played two games at home and one away.
28.
bring home to, to make evident to; clarify or emphasize for:
The irrevocability of her decision was brought home to her.
29.
home and dry, British Informal. having safely achieved one's goal.
30.
home free,
  1. assured of finishing, accomplishing, succeeding, etc.:
    If we can finish more than half the work today, we'll be home free.
  2. certain to be successfully finished, accomplished, secured, etc.:
    With most of the voters supporting it, the new law is home free.
31.
write home about, to comment especially on; remark on:
The town was nothing to write home about. His cooking is really something to write home about.
Origin
before 900; Middle English hom, Old English hām (noun and adv.); cognate with Dutch heim, Old Norse heimr, Danish hjem, Swedish hem, German Heim home, Gothic haims village; akin to haunt
Related forms
minihome, noun
Can be confused
home, house (see synonym study at house)
Synonyms
1. abode, dwelling, habitation; domicile. See house. 2. hearth, fireside. 3. asylum.
Examples from the web for homing
  • Scientists find that some types of sea snake possess homing behavior that may scupper conservation efforts.
  • Pigeons' homing instinct makes them excellent messengers.
  • Yet they have an incredible homing instinct that leads them back to favored aeries.
  • Problem is, with homing pigeons, they only travel one way.
  • Only then can it conduct its search-homing in on objects that have shapes similar to the cup's, until it finds a match.
  • Other homing species probably use similar mechanisms, but few can match such precision.
  • She has a natural homing pigeon instinct, never gets lost, remembers a place after being there once and is great with her hands.
  • homing in on the hypertrichosis gene may not be easy, given the extraordinary rareness of the condition.
  • At last, however, medical scientists believe they are homing in on the source of the sickness.
  • Firms flirted with all sorts of businesses before homing in on patented pharmaceuticals as the model for modern big drugmakers.
British Dictionary definitions for homing

homing

/ˈhəʊmɪŋ/
noun (modifier)
1.
(zoology) relating to the ability to return home after travelling great distances: homing instinct
2.
(of an aircraft, a missile, etc) capable of guiding itself onto a target or to a specified point

home

/həʊm/
noun
1.
the place or a place where one lives: have you no home to go to?
2.
a house or other dwelling
3.
a family or other group living in a house or other place
4.
a person's country, city, etc, esp viewed as a birthplace, a residence during one's early years, or a place dear to one
5.
the environment or habitat of a person or animal
6.
the place where something is invented, founded, or developed: the US is the home of baseball
7.
  1. a building or organization set up to care for orphans, the aged, etc
  2. an informal name for a mental home
8.
(sport) one's own ground: the match is at home
9.
  1. the objective towards which a player strives in certain sports
  2. an area where a player is safe from attack
10.
(lacrosse)
  1. one of two positions of play nearest the opponents' goal
  2. a player assigned to such a position: inside home
11.
(baseball) another name for home plate
12.
(NZ, informal, obsolete) Britain, esp England
13.
a home from home, a place other than one's own home where one can be at ease
14.
at home
  1. in one's own home or country
  2. at ease, as if at one's own home
  3. giving an informal party at one's own home
  4. (Brit) such a party
15.
at home in, at home on, at home with, familiar or conversant with
16.
(Brit, informal) home and dry, definitely safe or successful: we will not be home and dry until the votes have been counted Austral. and NZ equivalent home and hosed
17.
near home, concerning one deeply
adjective (usually prenominal)
18.
of, relating to, or involving one's home, country, etc; domestic
19.
(of an activity) done in one's house: home taping
20.
effective or deadly: a home thrust
21.
(sport) relating to one's own ground: a home game
22.
(US) central; principal: the company's home office
adverb
23.
to or at home: I'll be home tomorrow
24.
to or on the point
25.
to the fullest extent: hammer the nail home
26.
(of nautical gear) into or in the best or proper position: the boom is home
27.
bring home to
  1. to make clear to
  2. to place the blame on
28.
(nautical) come home, (of an anchor) to fail to hold
29.
come home to, to become absolutely clear to
30.
(informal) nothing to write home about, to be of no particular interest: the film was nothing to write home about
verb
31.
(intransitive) (of birds and other animals) to return home accurately from a distance
32.
often foll by on or onto. to direct or be directed onto a point or target, esp by automatic navigational aids
33.
to send or go home
34.
to furnish with or have a home
35.
(intransitive; often foll by in or in on) to be directed towards a goal, target, etc
Derived Forms
homelike, adjective
Word Origin
Old English hām; related to Old Norse heimr, Gothic haims, Old High German heim, Dutch heem, Greek kōmi village

Home

/hjuːm/
noun
1.
Baron, See Home of the Hirsel
Word Origin and History for homing
n.

"action of going home," 1765, in reference to pigeons, from present participle of home (v.). Homing pigeon attested by 1868.

home

n.

Old English ham "dwelling, house, estate, village," from Proto-Germanic *haimaz (cf. Old Frisian hem "home, village," Old Norse heimr "residence, world," heima "home," Danish hjem, Middle Dutch heem, German heim "home," Gothic haims "village"), from PIE root *tkei- "to settle, dwell, be home" (cf. Sanskrit kseti "abides, dwells," Armenian shen "inhabited," Greek kome, Lithuanian kaimas "village;" Old Church Slavonic semija "domestic servants").

'Home' in the full range and feeling of [Modern English] home is a conception that belongs distinctively to the word home and some of its Gmc. cognates and is not covered by any single word in most of the IE languages. [Buck]
Home stretch (1841) is originally a reference from horse racing. Home base in baseball attested by 1859 (home plate by 1867; home as the goal in a sport or game is from 1778). Home economics first attested 1899. Slang phrase make (oneself) at home "become comfortable in a place one does not live" dates from 1892. To keep the home fires burning is from a song title from 1914. To be nothing to write home about "unremarkable" is from 1907. Home movie is from 1919; home computer is from 1967.

v.

1765, "to go home," from home (n.). Meaning "be guided to a destination by radio signals, etc. (of missiles, aircraft, etc.) is from 1920; it had been used earlier in reference to pigeons (1862). Related: Homed; homing. Old English had hamian "to establish in a home."

Slang definitions & phrases for homing

home

Related Terms

bring home the bacon, home boy, money from home, nobody home, nothing to write home about


Idioms and Phrases with homing

home

also see:
Encyclopedia Article for homing

ability of certain animals to return to a given place when displaced from it, often over great distances. The major navigational clues used by homing animals seem to be the same as those used in migration (sun angle, star patterns, etc.), but homing may occur in any compass direction and at any season. The best-known examples of strong homing ability are among birds, particularly racing, or homing, pigeons; many other birds, especially seabirds and also swallows, are known to have equal or better homing abilities. A Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus), transported in a closed container to a point about 5,500 km (3,400 miles) from its nest, returned to the nest in 12 12 days.

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