blow the whistle
Report illegal activity
To blow the whistle is to expose wrongdoing or alert authorities to misconduct, from the image of a referee stopping play: She blew the whistle on the company's fraudulent accounting practices.
The person who does this is a whistleblower.
In its literal sense, blowing a whistle signals the start or end of something, or calls attention to a violation.
Make known publicly
- corruptionDishonest abuse of power
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- misconductImproper professional behavior
- leakEscape through a breach
insider · cover-up · scandal · revelations · testimony · informant · tip-off · investigation
expose
Make known publicly
- corruptionDishonest abuse of power
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- misconductImproper professional behavior
leak · insider · cover-up · scandal · revelations · testimony · informant · tip-off · investigation · journalist
timeout
Brief suspension of play
buzzer · referee · umpire · signal · game-over · full-time · period · quarter · halftime · overtime
- idiomstime flies, hit the sack, seize the day, ring a bell, break a leg
- revealreveal, disclose, expose, unmask, unveil
- secrecysecrecy, secret, secrets, confidential, classified
- music expressionsmusic to my ears, in tune, out of tune, play it by ear, strike a chord
- Informerssnitch, informer, informant, fink, squealer
blow the whistlecover up
Conceal misdeeds or errors
hush up · keep quiet · suppress · conceal · keep mum
blow the whistleabet
Assist in wrongdoing
enable · collude · play along · aid and abet · conspire
blow the whistleclose ranks
Unite defensively as group
circle the wagons · take one for the team · fall in line · play ball · toe the line
blow, whistle, whistling, whistles, whistled, whistleblowing, whistleblower, whistleblowers, whistle-blowing