Dictionary

come out of the woodwork en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From the idea of insects crawling out from inside the woodwork in a house.

Meanings

1. (derogatory, idiomatic) To appear or emerge unexpectedly or inexplicably, frequently in large numbers or quantity.
   • With the fall of the fascist regime, Italy was virtually overrun by several political parties who came out of the woodwork to fill in the vacuum. 2012, Enzo Centofanti, chapter 0, in Out of Africa and into America: The Odyssey of Italians in East Africa, page 136:
   • Would-be informants came crawling out of the woodwork, drawn to McCarthy as moths to light, each peddling a new version of Lattimore's evil deeds. 1992, Robert P. Newman, chapter 0, in Owen Lattimore and the “Loss” of China, page 227:
   • [...] 90-day wonders [...] were kicked around by harassed Regulars who were [...] just too busy to take time to spare the feelings of those strange creatures who came out of the woodwork and wanted the privileges of officers, without being fully prepared to do the work of officers. 1947 May, Colonel S. Legree, “We Must Get Together”, in Infantry Journal, volume 60, number 5, page 26:
   • And suddenly they came out of the woodwork. I don't actually know what that expression means. What come out of the woodwork? Cockroaches maybe. Mice? 2006, John Marsden, Circle of Flight: The Ellie Chronicles: 3, unnumbered page:
   • He won the lottery last year and he has had old "friends" and distant relatives coming out of the woodwork ever since.

Forms

Antonyms

blend into the woodwork

Relateds

come out of the closet · out of nowhere · out of the blue · coming out of one's ears

Synonyms

pull out of the woodwork · bring out of the woodwork · crawl out of the woodwork