muckrake

[muhk-reyk]

See more synonyms for muckrake on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), muck·raked, muck·rak·ing.

to search for and expose real or alleged corruption, scandal, or the like, especially in politics.

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

Related Words for muckrake

search, inspect, consider, explore, study, probe, question, scrutinize, interrogate, examine, review, sully, defile, disparage, scandalize, tarnish, smear, belittle, denigrate, malign

Examples from the Web for muckrake

Historical Examples of muckrake

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.
How To Write Special Feature Articles
Willard Grosvenor Bleyer

British Dictionary definitions for muckrake

muckrake

noun

an agricultural rake for spreading manure

verb

(intr) to seek out and expose scandal, esp concerning public figures

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