come/crawl out of the woodwork

idiom

disapproving

: to appear suddenly usually because one sees an opportunity to get something for oneself

As soon as she won the lottery, people started coming out of the woodwork, asking for money.

Examples of come/crawl out of the woodwork in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That plot is so close to reality — or the movie’s catawampus version of reality — that actual rogue agents come out of the woodwork to eliminate Elly. —Peter Debruge, Variety, 31 Jan. 2024

But like with my English, sometimes when my guard is down, elements of my childhood come out of the woodwork. —Clarissa Wei, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2023

Anyone, anywhere, can be your collaborator—and if your project is popular online, people can come out of the woodwork with fixes and new ideas. —Mike Pearl, The New Republic, 14 Sep. 2023

Since our first story ran, a lot of people who have known Santos have come out of the woodwork. —Emmett Lindner, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2023

For Sombra to come out of the woodwork, Decay may need to take the reins on Overwatch’s cyborg ninja. —Sean Collins, Dallas News, 2 July 2020

Worse yet, some are focused on all the problems that their windfall has brought them, as friends and family come out of the woodwork, expecting to share in the good fortune. —William Von Hippel, Discover Magazine, 19 Feb. 2019

Recently, Tinder and Fortnite, among other developers, have come out of the woodwork to take on the market dynamics of the App Store. —Washington Post, 31 July 2020

Cheryl Poling, chair of local Democrats in the suburban Third District, said she’s been blown away by the number of people — particularly young women — who have come out of the woodwork in the days since Ginsburg’s death to volunteer for Democratic candidates. —Briana Bierschbach, Star Tribune, 25 Sep. 2020