🗓️ Idiom: Bring the House Down
💬 Meaning
- To get a very strong and positive reaction from the audience, usually loud laughter, applause, or cheering.
- The speaker or performer entertained the audience greatly.
🧠 Example Sentences
- Her joke at the end of the speech brought the house down.
- The presenter brought the house down with his very funny closing story.
- When she shared her final slide, it brought the house down with laughter.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from theatre. When a performance was so good that the audience reacted loudly, it was said to “bring the house down.” The “house” means the building or theatre, and the strong reaction was like shaking the whole place.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
His final line ________ and got a standing ovation.
Answer
brought the house down
2. Multiple choice:
What does “bring the house down” mean?
a) End a show early
b) Make the audience very quiet
c) Get a loud and positive reaction from the audience
Answer
c) Get a loud and positive reaction from the audience
3. Change the sentence using the idiom:
“He made the audience cheer and laugh loudly with his speech.”
Answer
He brought the house down with his speech.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
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Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
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