put the finger on

1. Inform on, as in The witness put the finger on the defendant. [Slang; c. 1920] Also see put one's finger on.

Example Sentences

"It is hard to put the finger on," he replied to an opening question, like a mechanic mystified by a misfiring car engine.

Read more on BBC

Stressing that racial equity programs benefit the entire population, Rice added that Biden “put the finger on the chest of everybody in his administration to be with the program. … While this is the moral thing to do and the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing to do if we’re going to increase economic growth and create jobs.”

Read more on Washington Post

“But you know we thought the same thing in 2016, so how do you put the finger on this thing?” said Behum, who voted early by mail to avoid Republican voters without masks.

Read more on The Guardian

In 35 hot minutes, she will have humiliated him, destroyed his relationship, hung another murder on his tab, and have him ruefully signing off: “Fate, or some mysterious force, can put the finger on you or me for no good reason at all.”

Read more on The Guardian

There's a lot going on, but no one can quite put the finger on it.

Read more on Salon