whistle-blower
or whis·tle blow·er
[ hwis-uh l-bloh-er, wis- ]
/ ˈʰwɪs əlˌbloʊ ər, ˈwɪs- /
noun
a person who informs on another or makes public disclosure of corruption or wrongdoing.
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
whistle for, whistle in the dark, whistle pig, whistle stop, whistle up, whistle-blower, whistle-blowing, whistle-stop, whistleblower, whistler, whistler's mother
Origin of whistle-blower
First recorded in 1965–70
Related formswhis·tle-blow·ing, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for whistleblower
British Dictionary definitions for whistleblower
whistle-blower
noun
informal a person who informs on someone or puts a stop to something
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
Word Origin and History for whistleblower
whistleblower
in the figurative sense, by 1970, American English, from whistle (as something sounded in an alert) + agent noun from blow (v.1). Earlier in U.S. sports slang sense "referee."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper