sawdust trail

noun

1. the road to conversion or rehabilitation, as for a sinner or criminal.
2. Also called sawdust circuit. the itinerary of revival meetings.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sawdust trail¹

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15; so called from the sawdust-covered aisles in the temporary constructions put up for revival meetings

Example Sentences

Rather than arriving at faith along the sawdust trail of American evangelicalism, Buechner came via Princeton University and, eventually, Union Theological Seminary.

From Washington Post

Graham took his fellow evangelicals from the margins to the center — from the sawdust trail to the White House.

From Washington Post

At the conclusion of the sermon he, like the thousands who would one day answer his own “altar calls,” walked “the sawdust trail” to accept Christ — to be “saved,” in the evangelical vernacular.

From Washington Times

In spite of the thousands who have hit the sawdust trail, however, it is difficult to believe that more than a tiny proportion of his auditors are religiously affected by him.

From Project Gutenberg

There's no telling what happens if Newt Gingrich stumbles down the sawdust trail, yelling "Help me Jesus!"

From Time