welcome mat

noun

1. a doormat, especially one with the word “welcome” printed on it.

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. put out the welcome mat, to extend a hearty welcome:

   The club put out the welcome mat for new members.

More idioms and phrases containing welcome mat

A friendly welcome, as in They put out the welcome mat for all new members . This expression alludes to a doormat with the word “Welcome” printed on it. [Mid-1900]

Example Sentences

For all the claptrap over the decades about booting people out, this country’s leaders quickly realize their error and bust out the proverbial welcome mat just as quickly.

From Los Angeles Times

If the so-called Ellis Island of the West — 83% Latino, with a border town’s enduring economic and family ties to Mexico — can pull up the proverbial welcome mat, any Latino-majority area can.

From Los Angeles Times

“There’s not a welcome mat, it’s more like a no-trespassing mat.”

From Los Angeles Times

The welcome mat for California sea lions has been rolled out in San Francisco, but is nowhere to be seen in La Jolla and many of the state’s fishing ports.

From Los Angeles Times

There was a cat sitting on our welcome mat.

From Literature