Meaning Of Idiom ‘Home Free’
To be home free means to be assured of success because all the major difficulties or obstacles are behind you; to be certain to succeed without difficulty or major impediments; to be out of danger and safe.
Examples Of Use
“We’re not home free yet,” the lawyer said. “We still have to wait for the jury to decide.”
“We’ve got the engine started so we’re home free. We just have to replace a few parts.”
“Just when I thought I couldn’t finish the marathon, I saw the finish line a few hundred feet ahead. I was home free.”
“Her class is easy. Once you get the first big report out of the way, you’re home free.”
Origin
Used since the mid-1900s.
This idiom is often said to have derived from baseball, referring to when a player reaches home base, even though the term for this is ‘safe.’ More likely, it derived in children’s games where a player must reach ‘home’ before being tagged by another. According to the OED, it may have earlier references, deriving from slaves being delivered ‘home and free.’
