Meanings
- idiomaticThere is no danger; one can freely pass through a region without risk of discovery.
Wait there, watch the back of the building, and whistle when the coast is clear.
2 more examples
Seeing that the coast was clear, Tarzan stepped into the darkened entrance […]
1921, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan the Terrible, Grosset & Dunlap, page 222Sometimes 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
Origin
Compare Spanish no hay moros en la costa.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 没有危险
- 没有危险there is no danger
Danish kysten er klar
- kysten er klarthere is no danger
Finnish reitti selvä, reitti on selvä
- reitti selväthere is no danger
- reitti on selväthere is no danger
German die Luft ist rein
- die Luft ist reinthere is no danger
Hungarian tiszta a levegő
- tiszta a levegőthere is no danger
Italian via libera, nessun pericolo in vista
- via liberathere is no danger
- nessun pericolo in vistathere is no danger
Polish czysto
- czystothere is no danger
Portuguese a barra está limpa
- a barra está limpathere is no danger
Spanish no hay moros en la costa
- no hay moros en la costathere is no danger
Turkish asayiş berkemal
- asayiş berkemalthere is no danger
Cite this entry
the coast is clear. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20coast%20is%20clear
“the coast is clear.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20coast%20is%20clear. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “the coast is clear,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20coast%20is%20clear.
Source: the coast is clear on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.