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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

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.

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