Word.ws English Dictionary

in the green tree … in the dry

in the green tree … in the dry prepositional phrase: in a better situation as against a worse one; used chiefly in rhetorical questions to suggest that the current unfavorable situation will worsen in the future.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (dated, idiomatic) In a better situation as against a worse one; used chiefly in rhetorical questions to suggest that the current unfavorable situation will worsen in the future.
    • If this is seen in the green tree, what will it be in the dry? If this is so apparent now when the earth is loaded with her spontaneous fruits; what will it be when winter shall find them unprovided with the necessaries of life?1865 September 11, J. C. Randolph, “[Letter to Freedmen’s Bureau Commissioner]”, in Ira Berlin et al., editors, Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861–1867, volume 1/2, The Wartime...
    • […] disfranchisement was imposed upon 10,000 legal voters by a tribunal which had no jurisdiction to exclude a vote; if these things can be done in the green tree, what may we not expect to see in the dry?1877 February 13, Matthew H. Carpenter, Electoral Count of 1877. Proceedings of the Electoral Commission and of the Two Houses of Congress […], published 1877, pages 266–7

Synonyms of in the green tree … in the dry

Origin of in the green tree … in the dry

From Luke 23:31, Koine Greek ὅτι εἰ ἐν τῷ ὑγρῷ ξύλῳ ταῦτα ποιοῦσιν, ἐν τῷ ξηρῷ τί γένηται (hóti ei en tōî hugrōî xúlōi taûta poioûsin, en tōî xērōî tí génētai), rendered “For if they do these things in a green tree [when the trees are green], what shall be done in the dry?” in the King James Version.

Questions about in the green tree … in the dry

What does in the green tree … in the dry mean?
In the green tree … in the dry means in a better situation as against a worse one; used chiefly in rhetorical questions to suggest that the current unfavorable situation will worsen in the future.
What part of speech is in the green tree … in the dry?
In the green tree … in the dry is a prepositional phrase.

Words near in the green tree … in the dry in the dictionary

  1. in the furtherance of justice
  2. in the future
  3. in the game
  4. in the green
  5. in the green tree
  6. in the green tree … in the dry
  7. in the grip of
  8. in the gristle
  9. in the groove
  10. in the gross
  11. in the ground

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in the green tree … in the dry (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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