come in from the cold

Idioms  

1. Also, come in out of the cold. Return to shelter and safety, be welcomed into a group. For example, Bill was fed up with traveling on his own for the company and hoped they'd let him come in from the cold, or After years of not being invited to join, Steve was finally asked to come in out of the cold. This phrase, generally used figuratively, gained currency in the 1960s with John LeCarré's best-selling spy novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, about a long-time British spy in the cold war who longed to abandon the dirty tricks of his profession. Also see come in out of the rain.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

come in from the cold

Is that what spies do when they come in from the cold?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025

Young pretender Noah Lolesio was ruled out with concussion, leaving Bernard Foley to come in from the cold after three years out and finish as the Wallabies first-choice playmaker.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2022

Claire Danes has come in from the cold.

From New York Times ● May 13, 2022

Yokoi was not the last of the emperor’s soldiers to come in from the cold.

From Slate ● Jan. 31, 2022

It looked safe, a place to come in from the cold.

From "The Honest Truth" by Dan Gemeinhart