ferret out
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They’re all law-abiding people, and this directive ostensibly aims to ferret out terrorists and criminals.
From Slate • Dec. 17, 2025
The modern discipline of psychology would ferret out the private motives of regular and refined collectors alike.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025
We will ferret out students who protest against my policies.
From Salon • Oct. 18, 2025
The so-called Department of Government Efficiency set up its own internal team at the agency to ferret out information from its files.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2025
The men gathered at the farm were begun a sweep to ferret out any who had not regained the launches—we could hear them call to each other.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
