A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

home boy • house-boy
home boy —
1
. a boy who is fond of staying at home: A lone-
some little English home boy was playing his mouth organ
softly in the dusk. 2. (U.S. coll.) a man from one’s hometown
or neighborhood: Like many of her home boys and girls who
left the state to search for something else, she came back. 3.
(U.S. Underworld) a street kid; a member of a teenage gang:
Some 30,000 “home boys,” or gang members roam, pretty
much at will in Los Angelos County.
house-boy —a (usually native) boy employed as servant in a
house: That’s my houseboy; he has an unpronounceable name,
so I call him John.
home ground • home zone
home ground —
1
. the area where smb. lives; one’s familiar
surroundings: Students benefit by experiencing interviews
with prospective employers on their own home ground. 2. an
area of smb.’s special strength or competence : Obviously
Scorsese has done moderately well with other types of films
but contemporary urban crime is his home ground.
home zone —streets specially designed to meet the interests
of pedestrians and cyclists: Home Zones work through the
physical alteration of streets. These alterations force motorists
to drive with greater care and at lower speeds.
Home Guard, the • National Guard, the
Home Guard, the —(UK) a volunteer force formed to defend
a homeland while the army is fighting elsewhere: Those who
could not serve in the Army signed up as Local Defense Vol-
unteers in what became known as the Home Guard.
National Guard, the —(U.S.) the volunteer forces of each
state, which the governor can summon in an emergency, such
as civil disorder, etc.: According to reports, the National
Guard was called in to help evacuate residents affected by a
storm.
home-keeping • housekeeping
home-keeping —
1
. looking after the house (managing the
cleaning, cooking etc.): Marriage is more difficult because you
must agree on home keeping, child rearing, dealing with in-
laws…. 2. (attrib.) said of smb. keeping at home; home-stay-
ing: I’m very good mixer but I don’t like noisy groups; I’m a
home-keeping person.
housekeeping —
1
. = home-keeping 
1
: This position is respon-
sible for housekeeping duties and preparing the evening meal
for our seniors. 2. (U.S. attrib.) of a rented holiday cabin or
cottage furnished with cooking facilities, etc.: We had booked
“a house-keeping suite” without knowing what that was…. 3.
short for “housekeeping allowance”: You’ll go throwing your
money around but if I ask you for a bit more housekeeping,
that’s a different story.