light at the end of the tunnel

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

light at the end of the tunnel (countable and uncountable, plural lights at the end of the tunnel)

1. (idiomatic) A better situation after long hardship.
   • 1999, Abraham J Twerski, It's Not As Tough As You Think: How to Smooth Out Life's Bumps:

     If there is no light at the end of the tunnel, chronic pain can render a person dysfunctional. In desperation, people often turn to potent pain-killing medication for relief.

   • 2008 January 15, CIO, volume 21, number 7:

     But by fall 2005, there was light at the end of the tunnel. The team could see the new business processes and financial data governance mechanisms actually being used by Nationwide employees.

2. A vision of a bright light, surrounded by darkness, seen by a dying person