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muckrake

[muhk-reyk]
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verb (used without object), muck·raked, muck·rak·ing.
  1. to search for and expose real or alleged corruption, scandal, or the like, especially in politics.
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Origin of muckrake

1675–85; obsolete muck rake a rake for use on muck or dung. See muck, rake1
Related formsmuck·rak·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for muckrake

Historical Examples

  • Of Walt Whitman it is: "The dirty, clumsy paws of a harper whose plectrum is a muckrake."

    Shelburne Essays, Third Series

    Paul Elmer More

  • The journalist might well exchange the muckrake for the pick and dig it out.

British Dictionary definitions for muckrake

muckrake

noun
  1. an agricultural rake for spreading manure
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verb
  1. (intr) to seek out and expose scandal, esp concerning public figures
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Derived Formsmuckraker, nounmuckraking, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012