Definition
Of a spy: to return home after having gone undercover in enemy territory.
To gain widespread acceptance in a group or society, especially where there was not any before.
Origins
Literally, the term refers to someone who is outdoors when the weather is cold coming indoors to a warm place. The idiomatic senses were popularized by the title of the novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) by the British author John le Carré (1931–2020); “the Cold” is a pun on the Cold War, during which the novel is set.
In Context
- "I mean … one can't be out in the cold all the time; one has to come in from the cold … do you see what I mean?"
- "Long an outsider in Western politics, Portugal came in from the cold after the 1974 Carnation Revolution."
See Also
- brought in from the cold
- leave someone out in the cold