TO BRING DOWN THE HOUSE, verb. phr. (theatrical).—To elicit loud applause; to be successful.
1754. World, II., 76, 125. His apprehension that your statues will BRING THE HOUSE DOWN.
1853. REV. E. BRADLEY (‘Cuthbert Bede’), The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman, II., 23. Why, it would surpass the British sailor’s broadsword combat for six, and BRING DOWN THE HOUSE.
1872. JOHN FORSTER, The Life of Charles Dickens, xliv. (IV., 252). ‘And give us your applause, for that is always just’! which BROUGHT DOWN THE HOUSE with rapture.
1877. MRS. J. H. RIDDELL, Her Mother’s Darling, II., 61 (xii). I do not fancy she would ever forgive any of us if Honie were to BRING DOWN THE HOUSE at Elm Vale.
1889. Bird o’ Freedom, Aug. 7, 3. But Samson’s crowning feat of all was to break with his fist two steel chains, suspended from a couple of posts. This fairly BROUGHT DOWN THE HOUSE.
