out of the woodwork

Idioms  

1. Emerging from obscurity or a place of seclusion. It often is put as come (or crawl) out of the woodwork, as in The candidates for this job were coming out of the woodwork. The expression alludes to insects crawling out of the interior wooden fittings of a house, such as baseboards and moldings. [Colloquial; mid-1900s]

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

out of the woodwork

“We’ve had people coming out of the woodwork, saying, ‘Gosh, I hope you can save this gem of West Virginia,’ ” Blake Rowling said in an interview.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026

If yields move higher to compensate investors for underlying risks, it could get buyers to come out of the woodwork.

From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026

In addition, bond buyers came out of the woodwork and pushed the long-dated yield back down again.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 24, 2026

"Their pasts are dissected. Exes come out of the woodwork to sell their stories, and everything they do or say is open to criticism."

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2025

But it feels like I never know when something’s going to pop out of the woodwork.

From "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher