dirty linen
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of dirty linen
First recorded in 1945–50
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.
Another complication for your friend: The probate process is public, the legal equivalent of washing your dirty linen in the front yard.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2025
"It is still very much a work in progress. An awful lot has been said between the two. So much dirty linen has been put out in the public, so to speak."
From Fox News ● Jul. 2, 2021
Such exposés tarnish the whole community, and are regarded by many as washing the community’s dirty linen in public.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 22, 2019
“She would have had some reservations in the old-fashioned phrase about washing dirty linen in public,” he says.
From The Guardian ● May 13, 2018
As soon as I was decent, she led me past the dirty linen and out into the baking sun.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
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.
