woodwork

plural woodworks

1. countableuncountableusuallySomething made from wood, especially cabinets and trim (e.g., baseboards, doorframes) made from millwork.

   Some woodwork and the plaster ceiling medallions have been duplicated to match the originals.

   2008 September 14, Bill Cunniff, “A stroll through OLD IRVING PARK”, in The Chicago Sun-Times

2. uncountableusuallyWorking with wood.

   He does woodwork as a hobby.

   1 more example

   The unthinking man assumes that if woodwork is to be taught, the best person to do it must be a carpenter

   1906, Tasmania. Education Dept, The educational record, volumes 1-6, page 14

   Synonyms: woodworking

3. broadlyfigurativelyuncountableusuallyA place of concealment or obscurity.

   out of the woodwork

   3 more examples

   Friends and relatives were coming out of the woodwork to celebrate his good fortune.

   So when he wants to, he can just kind of blend into the woodwork.

   [Security personnel] seemed to come out of the woodwork from all directions, issuing orders, and rushing toward their protectees and seeking to secure the room.

   2026 April 26, Linda Feldmann, “After the gunfire: Moments of grace at White House correspondents’ dinner”, in The Christian Science Monitor, Boston, Massachusetts: Christian Science Publishing Society, →ISSN, →OCLC

4. uncountableusuallyball gamesThe frame of the goal, i.e. the goalpost or crossbar.

   That goal was so close, it went in off the woodwork.

   1 more example

   Carroll thought he had equalised with his header against the bar with eight minutes left. Liverpool claimed the ball had cross the line and Chelsea were grateful for a miraculous intervention from Cech to turn his effort on to the woodwork.

   2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport

present singular third person woodworks · participle present woodworking · participle past woodworked · past woodworked

1. datedTo go completely stealth as a transgender person. (From the idea of fading or blending into the woodwork.)

   Maybe — and this was essential for political activism — you didn't have to "woodwork" but could be transgendered for all to see. By the mid '90s the Internet had arrived — and spread these new ideas like wildfire.[…]

   2001 November, Out, page 80

   1 more example

   "Instead of 'woodworking,' or disappearing into the mainstream — as we are capable of and qualified to do — we have chosen not to do so." Outside of the transsexual community, other changes were taking place that made it possible for[…]

   1997, Patrick Califia, Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism