subs. (theatrical).—1. An audience. TO BRING DOWN THE HOUSE = to elicit a general burst of applause. Fr., avoir sa côtelette; boire du lait.
1823. BADCOCK (‘Jon Bee’), Dictionary of the Turf, etc., s.v. HOUSE. With them (the players) it means Covent-garden or Drury-lane, or indeed any other theatre. ‘A full-HOUSE’ and ‘half-a-HOUSE’ indicate the state of the receipts or number of the audience.
1870. Athenæum, 13 Aug., p. 120. ‘Letter of J. O. Halliwell.’ It is now certain that Shakespeare was never proprietor of either (the Globe or Blackfriars) theatre. His sole interest in them consisted in a participation, as an actor in the receipts of what is called the HOUSE.
1873. Home News, 24 Jan. I exerted myself, not for praise of that well-dressed mob they called THE HOUSE, but for very love of the congenial sport.
1892. SYDNEY WATSON, Wops the Waif, ch. iii., p. 4. There was tremendous enthusiasm this evening. Every scene was uproariously applauded, and at the climax the whole HOUSE rose and cheered and encored with tumultuous feeling.
THE HOUSE (colloquial).—(1) The Stock Exchange; (2) The House of Commons; (3) Christ Church, Oxford.
HOUSE UNDER THE HILL, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see MONOSYLLABLE.
HOUSE (or APARTMENTS) TO LET, subs. phr. (common).—A widow.—Lexicon Balatronicum. Also BILL-OF-SALE and MAN-TRAP.
FATHER OF THE HOUSE, subs. phr. (Parliamentary).—The oldest elected member. See BABE.
HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT, subs. phr. (common).—A prison. For synonyms, see CAGE.
LIKE A HOUSE ON FIRE, adv. phr. (common).—Quickly; with energy. See LIKE.
1851–61. H. MAYHEW, London Labour and the London Poor, ii., 85. I’m getting on LIKE A regler HOUSE ON FIRE.
SAFE AS HOUSES, adv. phr. (common).—Perfectly safe.
1864. YATES, Broken to Harness, ch. xxxii., p. 361 (1873). I have the means of doing that, as SAFE AS HOUSES.
1874. HARDY, Far from the Madding Crowd, ch. lvii. ‘The clothes will floor us as SAFE AS HOUSES,’ said Coggan.
1886. GRANT ALLEN, In All Shades, ch. i. Why, of course, then, that’s the explanation of it—as SAFE AS HOUSES, you may depend upon it. Ibid. (1890), The Tents of Shem, ch. xxviii. You may make your forgery itself as SAFE AS HOUSES.
