blow the whistle on
Idioms-
Expose corruption or other wrongdoing, as in The President's speech blew the whistle on the opposition's leaking information . [ Colloquial ; 1930s]
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Put a stop to, as in The registry decided to blow the whistle on new vanity plates . The term originally alluded to ending an activity (such as factory work) with the blast of a whistle. [Late 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It “would safeguard the rights of federal employees who blow the whistle on violations of laws, including by their supervisors,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2025
In June 2012, I collaborated with public-radio reporter Sarah Koenig on an episode of “This American Life” to blow the whistle on Journatic’s shady tactics.
From Washington Post • Aug. 12, 2022
A former member of the Edo State government, speaking to the international media for the first time, has come forward to blow the whistle on Edo State's collaboration with organised crime.
From BBC • Dec. 12, 2021
That even powerful people failed to blow the whistle on a clearly depraved scene is a puzzle of group behavior that maybe only literature can begin to address.
From New York Times • Dec. 6, 2021
“I would have never guessed,” Stockdale would say many years later, “that commodores in charge on the scene of action are sometimes not allowed to blow the whistle on a screwup.”
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
