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.
Under Greenspan’s watch, the Fed didn’t blow the whistle on riskier lending practices in which Wall Street used financial alchemy to turn dodgy mortgages into highly rated securities.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026
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
Combs's former on-and-off girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, was first to blow the whistle on the self-proclaimed "bad boy for life".
From BBC • Sep. 24, 2024
In the memoir “README.txt,” Chelsea Manning tells her life story and explains her decision to blow the whistle on U.S. actions in the Middle East.
From New York Times • Oct. 20, 2022
It's possible that Mami had her own little revolution brewing, and she didn't want to blow the whistle on her girls and thus call attention to herself.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
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.
