welcome mat

noun

: something likened to a mat placed before an entrance as a sign of welcome

put out the welcome mat for foreign investors

Examples of welcome mat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Yet a controversial new education proposal threatens to effectively roll up the Netherlands’ welcome mat. —Lenora Chu, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Sep. 2023

News of the welcome mat certainly spread among immigrant circles through social media very quickly. —Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2023

Freeze, who named a starting quarterback last week, said the welcome mat might be going on hiatus. —Michael Casagrande | [e-mail], al, 22 Aug. 2023

Residents often open their front doors in the morning to discover that their showy neighbors had left them unwelcome presents on their welcome mats. —Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 11 Aug. 2023

If in the coming months her friend rolls up the welcome mat, the alternative for your sister will be the nursing facility. —Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, 29 Jan. 2023

Arlington has tried to roll out the welcome mat for urban agriculture companies like AgriPlay. —Teo Armus, Washington Post, 28 Aug. 2023

Because Elon Musk’s Twitter is rolling out a welcome mat for the far-right television host. —Prem Thakker, The New Republic, 9 May 2023

The American front door is a place where the welcome mat offers friendly greetings, where affable neighbors knock or ring, where boxes brimming with possibility are delivered. —Ted Anthony, Chicago Tribune, 23 Apr. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1946, in the meaning defined above