to lay open to danger, attack, harm, etc..
to expose soldiers to gunfire;
to expose one's character to attack.
to lay open to something specified.
to expose oneself to the influence of bad companions.
to uncover or bare to the air, cold, etc..
to expose one's head to the rain.
to present to view; exhibit; display.
The storekeeper exposed his wares.
to make known, disclose, or reveal (intentions, secrets, etc.).
to reveal or unmask (a crime, fraud, impostor, etc.).
to expose a swindler.
to hold up to public reprehension or ridicule (fault, folly, a foolish act or person, etc.).
to desert in an unsheltered or open place; abandon, as a child.
to subject, as to the action of something.
to expose a photographic plate to light.
to display for viewing; exhibit
to bring to public notice; disclose; reveal
to expose the facts
to divulge the identity of; unmask
(foll by to) to make subject or susceptible (to attack, criticism, etc)
to abandon (a child, animal, etc) in the open to die
(foll by to) to introduce (to) or acquaint (with)
he was exposed to the classics at an early age
photog to subject (a photographic film or plate) to light, X-rays, or some other type of actinic radiation
RC Church to exhibit (the consecrated Eucharistic Host or a relic) for public veneration
to display one's sexual organs in public
the act or an instance of bringing a scandal, crime, etc, to public notice
an article, book, or statement that discloses a scandal, crime, etc
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English exposen, from Old French exposer, equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + poser “to put” ( see pose 1), replacing Latin expōnere “to put out, expose, set forth in words”; see expound
First recorded in 1795–1805; from French, noun use of past participle of exposer expose
To expose means to uncover or allow to be in the open air. If you take off your coat and expose your bare arms to the terrible cold, your tattoos might freeze off. (Note: We don’t actually know if this is physically possible.) When you pronounce expose as it’s spelled, it can mean to leave out in the air, to put in peril (when you expose someone to danger), or to uncover. All of those examples are actions. However, when you pronounce it as though there is a French accent on the final "e," ex-poh-ZAY, it means the unmasking or exposure of something hidden (and usually bad or fraudulent), as when you watch an expose on 60 Minutes about the evils of frozen orange juice or some other toxic substance.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On the one hand, that could expose me to sequence-of-returns risk, which seems a reasonable concern to me.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
So when things go badly inside the opaque world of many private schools, it can be left to parents, police, journalists and amateur sleuths to find and expose wrongdoing.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
Fury's greatest weapon has always been his ability to expose hesitation, vulnerability and mistakes - and Joshua showed all three against Prenga.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Instead, it wants to expose the wounds that are driving its characters to look for love in all the wrong internet places.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
“Being my friend’s, I have no right to expose it in any degree to the public eye, but perhaps you may not dislike looking at it.”
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
In 1963 Mitford published “The American Way of Death,” an exposé of the funeral industry that turned her into a stateside celebrity, welcomed as a provocative guest on talk shows and recognized by cab drivers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
Yet that’s all Redzepi has done since the damning New York Times exposé.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
Jewish Insider published what it called an exposé revealing that the mayor’s wife Rama Duwaji, a private citizen who holds no public office, had liked social media posts sympathetic to Palestinian rights.
From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2026
But she faces strong competition from Mercury Prize winner Sam Fender and a resurgent Lily Allen, whose candid exposé of her failing marriage became one of last year's most talked-about albums.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
An exposé of Spiritualism appeared in the October 21, 1888, issue of the New York World.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
However, feeding near roads also exposes them to the danger of being struck by vehicles.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
"Oil's return towards pre-war levels in June reflected markets pricing in a best-case outcome for the fragile US-Iran arrangement," she wrote, adding that the "re-escalation exposes how fragile that assumption was".
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
The grandmother in the spotlight, a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker named Renee, exposes Joshua to the joys of the Big City when he visits from the suburbs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
“And then fire happens and it kind of exposes all those things that go on that should be taken care of,” he continued.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
She pulls on a latch, lifts a door, and exposes a Belle-trunk.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
It contains a sap which irritates skin when it is exposed to sunlight and can cause blistering and swelling.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Earlier this year, Gucci’s CEO, Francesca Bellettini, said that the brand needed to restore its appeal among Chinese shoppers, to which the brand is highly exposed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
They also help kids who’ve been exposed to community violence or other traumatic events, or who are grieving a traumatic loss.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
To investigate, the researchers exposed pregnant mice to a mild inflammatory stimulus early in pregnancy.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
It was like it was chasing me, wanting to hold me down, to keep what I now see from being exposed.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
He eventually succeeded by exposing corals to strong UV rays and other stressors to create extremely resilient organisms that even survived the 2024 bleaching unscathed.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
The aggressive investment products are tailored to pay out twice the profits of a single stock but also twice the losses, and have been criticised for exposing retail investors to market hype and volatility.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Homes, schools, hospitals, and transport networks are struggling to cope with back-to-back heatwaves this summer, exposing how unprepared the UK is for climate change.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Hirsch said the lawsuit showed how the alleged use of new AI tools could be exposing companies to new legal risks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Her thinking was that the trip would be educational, exposing her son to new places and different people.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
