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.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

out of the woods

It had seemed like Plum was out of the woods after she came back from her ankle injury.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

But Cracker Barrel isn’t out of the woods yet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

Felix Bohnsack, the technical head of the mission, praised everyone involved, from Backhaus's environment ministry to the German life guards' association DLRG, although he warned they were not yet "out of the woods".

From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026

The U.S. industry’s average is 76 days, so Stellantis isn’t out of the woods.

From Barron's ● Apr. 15, 2026

Georgie and I came out of the woods behind the house.

From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn

Related Words

• improving
• well