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Synonyms

out of the woods

Idioms  

  1. Out of difficulties, danger or trouble, as in We're through the worst of the recession—we're out of the woods now, or That pneumonia was serious, but Charles is finally out of the woods. This expression, alluding to having been lost in a forest, dates from Roman times; it was first recorded in English in 1792. The British usage is out of the wood.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Intel stands to benefit from a CPU boom and a growing array of partnerships, but an analyst notes it’s “not out of the woods yet.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

So while the market seems relatively unscathed by the war right now, stocks are far from being out of the woods just yet.

From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026

However, the vultures aren’t yet out of the woods.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2026

“That being said, while Intel is not out of the woods in terms of competitiveness, the strong showing for Panther Lake shows the company is at least back on the right path,” Goldberg said.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 20, 2026

No wonder Lissa had been scared when I stepped out of the woods.

From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.