homecoming

noun

home·​com·​ing ˈhōm-ˌkə-miŋ 

1

: a return home

a soldier's homecoming

2

: the return of a group of people usually on a special occasion to a place formerly frequented or regarded as home

especially : an annual celebration for alumni at a high school, college, or university

—often used before another noun

a homecoming rally

homecoming weekend

the annual homecoming game/dance

was elected the homecoming queen

Examples of homecoming in a Sentence

A large crowd gathered at the airport for the soldiers' homecoming.

Recent Examples on the Web

Their complicated homecomings make a tiny dent in a massive and pressing global problem: What to do with the roughly 45,000 people from more than 70 countries being held in huge, primitive desert camps in northeast Syria near the Iraq border. —Sacha Pfeiffer, NPR, 7 May 2024

The Menlo Park show will be a homecoming for Lerios, who now lives in Thousands Oaks but was born in San Francisco and grew up in nearby Palo Alto. —Jim Harrington, The Mercury News, 6 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

homecoming

noun

home·​com·​ing ˈhōm-ˌkəm-ing 

1

: a return home

2

a

: the return of a group of people usually on a special occasion to a place formerly frequented

b

: a yearly celebration for alumni at a school