blend into the woodwork

To make oneself inconspicuous. Because I'm on probation at work, I'm just trying to blend into the woodwork for now. I recognized the famous actress at the mall, but I didn't say anything because she was clearly just trying to blend into the woodwork. My daughter's pretty shy around new people, so just let her blend into the woodwork at first. She'll come around eventually.

come out of the woodwork

To appear unexpectedly, or from unexpected places. No one had anything negative to say when I first pitched this idea, but now people are coming out of the woodwork to criticize it. Ever since Liam won the lottery, his so-called relatives have been coming out of the woodwork. If you tell anyone that the pop star is staying here, people will start to come out of the woodwork just to get a glimpse of her.

disappear into the woodwork

To recede or absent oneself from public view; to become or remain hidden in society. The former movie star, never one to disappear into the woodwork, launched a very successful chain of restaurants and eventually ran for public office in Washington state. I think people expected us to disappear into the woodwork after the referendum results, but we made sure to stay firmly in the eye of the public. After being the subject of so many horrible tabloid headlines, that socialite seems to have disappeared into the woodwork.

fade into the woodwork

To make oneself inconspicuous. Because I'm on probation, I'm just trying to fade into the woodwork for now. I recognized the famous actress at the mall, but I didn't say anything because she was clearly just trying to fade into the woodwork. My daughter's pretty shy around new people, so just let her fade into the woodwork at first. She'll come around eventually.

hit the woodwork

soccer To strike a goal post or crossbar with a shot on goal. Primarily heard in UK. A: "Lawrence made a great shot—he had the goalie completely fooled!" B: "But unfortunately, he hit the woodwork, and the score remains tied at 2-2." Well, I wasn't trying to hit the woodwork—I hoped to put the ball in the goal! Thank goodness Smith hit the woodwork, or we'd be looking at a tie game.

out of the woodwork

Out of hiding; into view or awareness suddenly and unexpectedly. No one had anything negative to say when I first pitched this idea, but now people are coming out of the woodwork to criticize it. Ever since Liam won the lottery, his so-called relatives have been showing up out of the woodwork.

See also: of, out, woodwork

vanish into the woodwork

To recede or absent oneself from public view; to become or remain hidden in society. The former movie star, never one to vanish into the woodwork, launched a very successful chain of restaurants and eventually ran for public office in Washington state. I think people expected us to vanish into the woodwork after the referendum results, but we made sure to stay firmly in the eye of the public.

*out of the woodwork

Fig. out into the open from other places or a place of concealment. (*Typically: bring someone or something ~; come ~; creep ~.) When the cake appeared, all the office people suddenly came out of the woodwork.

See also: of, out, woodwork

out of the woodwork

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]

See also: of, out, woodwork

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

come out of the woodwork

If people come out of the woodwork they suddenly start publicly talking about something or making claims, when previously they said nothing. People are starting to come out of the woodwork to talk about fraudulent practices in the industry. Note: You can replace come with another verb such as crawl. The worst aspect of their decision for Britain is that it will now bring anti-Europeans crawling out of the woodwork once more. Note: People usually use this expression to show that they disapprove either of the sort of things that people are saying, or of the fact that they have only just started to say these things.

vanish into (or come or crawl out of) the woodwork

(of an unpleasant person or thing) disappear into (or emerge from) obscurity. informal

The implication here is that the people or things concerned are like cockroaches or other unpleasant creatures living in the crevices of skirting boards and cupboards.

blend/fade into the ˈwoodwork

behave in a way that does not attract any attention; disappear or hide: I decided the best thing to do would be to try and fade into the woodwork and hope that no one noticed me.

come/crawl out of the ˈwoodwork

(informal, disapproving) if you say that somebody comes/crawls out of the woodwork, you mean that they have suddenly appeared in order to express an opinion or to take advantage of a situation: When he won the lottery, all sorts of distant relatives came out of the woodwork.

These idioms refer to the fact that insects or small animals, especially unpleasant ones, often hide in holes in wooden parts of a room or building.

See also: come, crawl, of, out, woodwork

out of the woodwork

Out of obscurity or a place of seclusion: People were coming out of the woodwork to apply for the desirable job.

See also: of, out, woodwork

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

See also: