blow the lid off

Idioms  

1. Also, blow wide open. Expose, especially a scandal or illegal activity. For example, The newspaper's investigation blew the lid off the governor's awarding state contracts to his friends. [First half of 1900s]

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Example Sentences

These new appointees were the very ones who had been chasing this scandal for years, and they were now in a position to blow the lid off the whole thing.

From Salon

Steinbeck had been so overwhelmed the first time he accompanied Collins and saw the absolute poverty that the migrants had to suffer he told Collins, “By god! I can’t stand anymore! I’m going away and blow the lid off this place.”

From Salon

Also: the crisis in the wine industry, and how a combination investigative publication/hedge fund wants to blow the lid off corporations — while shorting their stock.

From Slate

Compared to other true-crime docs, “Beyond Human Nature” doesn’t blow the lid off a huge conspiracy or untangle a complicated mystery.

From Los Angeles Times

Today we are going to blow the lid off a debate that raged in America’s newspapers at the turn of the 20th century.

From Washington Post