Word.ws English Dictionary

see the woods for the trees

see the woods for the trees is the alternative form of see the forest for the trees.

Meaning of see the forest for the trees

Verb

see the forest for the trees (third-person singular simple present sees the forest for the trees, present participle seeing the forest for the trees, simple past saw the forest for the trees, past participle seen the forest for the trees)

  1. (idiomatic) To discern an overall pattern from a mass of detail; to see the big picture, or the broader, more general situation.
    • Smith is good at detail, but can't see the forest for the trees.

Forms of see the woods for the trees

third-person singular presentsees the woods for the trees
present participleseeing the woods for the trees
pastsaw the woods for the trees
past participleseen the woods for the trees

Questions about see the woods for the trees

What is see the woods for the trees the alternative form of?
See the woods for the trees is the alternative form of see the forest for the trees.

Words near see the woods for the trees in the dictionary

  1. see the point
  2. see the same way
  3. see the trees through the forest
  4. see the way clear to
  5. see the wood for the trees
  6. see the woods for the trees
  7. see the world
  8. see things
  9. see through
  10. see through a millstone
  11. see to

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: see the woods for the trees (page history and authors); see the forest for the trees (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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