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Showing results for out in the open. Search instead for in+the+open.
Synonyms

out in the open

Idioms  

  1. Also, out into the open. In or into public view or knowledge, as in I wish he wouldn't talk behind our backs but bring his complaints out in the open, or It's important to bring the merger plans out into the open. This term uses open to mean “an unconcealed state.” [c. 1940]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For those caught out in the open, there are no underground car parks to dash to in this modest town.

From Barron's • Mar. 14, 2026

His mother, Matilda Banda, was caught out in the open.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

In one video from the site near Tehran, about 180 shrouded or wrapped figures can be seen, the majority lying out in the open.

From BBC • Jan. 12, 2026

In classic Southern California fashion, Wingfoot Three doesn’t sit in a hangar like its siblings but hangs out in the open, turning heads on the 405 Freeway, which runs right along the base.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 27, 2025

He was left with the sweater, and her burn was out in the open.

From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.