Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

come out of the woodwork

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.21 in modern English

Syllables: come out of the -wood-work
IPA

41

Scrabble Score

20

Letters

3

Syllables

12

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To appear or emerge unexpectedly or inexplicably, frequently in large numbers or quantity.

Derogatory

Example Sentences

"He won the lottery last year and he has had old "friends" and distant relatives coming out of the woodwork ever since."
"[...] 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."
"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."
"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?"
"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."

Etymology

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

Usage

Derogatory

Inflected Forms

comes out of the woodwork (present, singular) coming out of the woodwork (participle, present) came out of the woodwork (past)

Phrases

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

Frequently Paired Words

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

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

blend into the woodwork

Questions

What does come out of the woodwork mean?: To appear or emerge unexpectedly or inexplicably, frequently in large numbers or quantity.
Where does come out of the woodwork come from?: From the idea of insects crawling out from inside the woodwork in a house.

How to pronounce come out of the woodwork

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