the coast is clear en · X
Pronunciation
- /ðə ˌkoʊst ɪz ˈklɪəɹ/ General American, mirror–nearer merger
Etymology
Compare Spanish no hay moros en la costa.
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) There is no danger; one can freely pass through a region without risk of discovery.
Sometimes Dorothy herself left me. She had plenty of friends in the studio, and would slip away for a chat when the coast seemed clear.
1945, Christopher Isherwood, Prater Violet, New York: Random House, published [1956], →LCCN, page 94:Seeing that the coast was clear, Tarzan stepped into the darkened entrance […]
1921, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan the Terrible, Grosset & Dunlap, page 222:Wait there, watch the back of the building, and whistle when the coast is clear.
Translations (12)
tr asayiş berkemal (there is no danger) · it via libera (there is no danger) · es no hay moros en la costa (there is no danger) · de die Luft ist rein (there is no danger) · it nessun pericolo in vista (there is no danger) · cmn 没有危险 (there is no danger) · da kysten er klar (there is no danger) · pl czysto (there is no danger) · fi reitti selvä (there is no danger) · pt a barra está limpa (there is no danger) · fi reitti on selvä (there is no danger) · hu tiszta a levegő (there is no danger)