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

"Obviously that will bring some of the wildlife out of the woods, like voles and mice, and I was hoping that the barn owls would then thrive even more than they are already," he said.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026

While the Nasdaq Composite ended Thursday in the green, the technology sector isn’t out of the woods just yet.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” National Weather Service meteorologist Daniel Berc said Sunday morning.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026

Despite a flurry of vague timelines and lofty promises, it doesn’t seem like we’ll be out of the woods any time soon.

From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026

Soon’s I broke out of the woods onto the road I saw fresh wagon-wheel marks.

From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis

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Related Words

• improving
• well

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