1
general::
Phrase(s): see the light (of day)
Fig. to come to the end of a very busy time. • Finally, when the holiday season was over, we could see the light of day. We had been so busy! • When business lets up for a while, we’ll be able to see the light., Phrase(s): see the light (at the end of the tunnel)
Fig. to foresee an end to one’s problems after a long period of time. (See also begin to see the light.) • I had been horribly ill for two months before I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel. • I began to see the light one day in early spring. At that moment, I knew I’d get well., Phrase(s): see the light
Fig. to understand something clearly at last. • After a lot of studying and asking many questions, I finally saw the light. • I know that geometry is difficult. Keep working at it. You’ll see the light pretty soon.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
Also, begin to see the light. Understand or begin to understand something; also, see the merit of another's explanation or decision. For example, Dean had been trying to explain that tax deduction for fifteen minutes when I finally saw the light, or Pat was furious she and her friends were not allowed to go hiking on their own in the mountains, but she began to see the light when a group got lost up there. This term, dating from the late 1600s, originally referred to religious conversion, the light meaning "true religion." By the early 1800s it was used more broadly for any kind of understanding. Also see LIGHT AT THE END OF A TUNNEL; SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY.
American Heritage Idioms