out of the woods

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Prepositional phrase

out of the woods

1. (idiomatic) Out of peril; likely to recover or prevail over trouble; finished with the worst or most threatening part of a problem or illness.

   The patient is feeling a little better, but she's not out of the woods yet.

   • 2024 May 16, Pjotr Sauer, Ashifa Kassam, “Slovakian PM Robert Fico stable but ‘not out of the woods’ after shooting”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     The Slovakian prime minister, Robert Fico, is in a stable condition but “not out of the woods yet”, officials have said, as they appealed for calm after a shooting that laid bare the deep political divisions of recent months.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see out of,‎ the,‎ woods.

Related terms

• halloo before one is out of the wood

Translations

out of peril

Finnish: kuivilla (fi), kuivilla vesillä, selvillä vesillä French: tiré d’affaire, sorti d’affaire, hors de danger, sorti de l’auberge (fr) (literally “left the hostel”) German: aus dem Schneider, aus dem Gröbsten heraus, über den Berg (literally “over the mountain”) Maori: Kua tae te waka ki uta (literally “the boat has reached the shore”) Russian: вне опа́сности (vne opásnosti)

See also

• good to go