Woodwork refers to the wooden parts and details in a building, especially the decorative or functional pieces like door frames, baseboards, window sills, staircases, and crown molding. When someone admires the woodwork in an old house, they're noticing these carved or crafted wooden elements that give the building character.

Woodwork can also mean the craft of making things from wood. A skilled carpenter might say they enjoy working with wood, or that woodwork is their specialty. In school, a woodwork class teaches students how to cut, sand, shape, and join pieces of wood to create furniture, boxes, or other useful objects.

You might hear the phrase “come out of the woodwork,” which means appearing suddenly from nowhere, often in large numbers. If your teacher announces free pizza, students will come out of the woodwork to get a slice. People use it when individuals who were previously invisible or uninvolved suddenly show up, usually when there's something to gain or when attention turns to a particular topic.