bring down the house

verb

To garner enthusiastic or wild applause or laughter.

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Meanings

verbbring down the house (third-person singular simple present brings down the house, present participle bringing down the house, simple past and past participle brought down the house)

present singular third person brings down the house · participle present bringing down the house · participle past brought down the house · past brought down the house · alternative bring the house down

  1. idiomaticTo garner enthusiastic or wild applause or laughter.

    "Well, your recitations just brought down the house, Anne. That sad one was simply splendid."

    1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Cite this entry
APA

bring down the house. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bring%20down%20the%20house

MLA

“bring down the house.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bring%20down%20the%20house. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bring down the house,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bring%20down%20the%20house.

Source: bring down the house on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.