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

Inexperienced quarterback room and Hamilton’s homecoming Hamilton’s first Maryland quarterback room features only one college start collectively, and that comes from UCLA transfer Justyn Martin in 2024. —Michael Howes, Baltimore Sun, 26 Mar. 2025

Willy Adames, the Giants big free agent catch, will have a similar homecoming when San Francisco travels to Milwaukee. —Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 25 Mar. 2025

The new job represents a homecoming for Habba, whose eponymous former law firm, Habba Madaio & Associates LLP, is based in Bedminster, New Jersey, just a few miles from one of the president's golf courses. —Graham Kates, CBS News, 24 Mar. 2025

So many problems cropped up on the way to the space station that NASA eventually sent Starliner back empty and transferred the test pilots to SpaceX, pushing their homecoming into February. —arkansasonline.com, 19 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for homecoming

• overcoming
• unbecoming
• becoming
• forthcoming
• incoming
• oncoming
• shortcoming
• succumbing
• upcoming
• coming
• cumming
• drumming

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