"Olly olly oxen free" () is a catchphrase or truce term used in children's games such as hide and seek, capture the flag, and kick the can to indicate that players who are hiding can come out into the open without losing the game or that the position of the sides in a game has changed Others speculate the phrase may be a corruption of a hypothetical and ungrammatical German phrase alle, alle, auch sind frei (all, all, also are free).
A number of variations exist. "Ollyoxalls" is one such variant, said to be used in Portsmouth, England. Another variant is "Ollie Ollie in come free."
See also
- Truce term