blown the whistle
Alerted the authorities
Blown the whistle means to have exposed wrongdoing or alerted authorities to misconduct.
The image comes from a referee's whistle stopping play when rules are violated.
Someone who has blown the whistle on corruption, fraud, or illegal activity has brought it to public attention or reported it to those in power: She blew the whistle on the company's accounting fraud.
The person who does this is a whistleblower.
- exposedOut in open
- alertWarning or watchfulness
- whistleblowerInsider who reports misconduct
- informantOne who provides intelligence
- revealedMade visible or known
go public · breaking silence · courageous · disclosure · betrayal · retaliation · ethics · moral courage · accountability · snitch · transparency · leaked · tell the truth · speak up · justice · compliance · loyalty · oversight
blown the whistlecovered up
hushed up · concealed · suppressed · buried · hidden
blown the whistlelooked the other way
Deliberately avoided noticing
turned a blind eye · closed ranks · toed the line · played along · gone along with
blown the whistlestood by
Supported or awaited
let it go · looked the other way · turned a blind eye · said nothing · kept one's mouth shut
blown, whistle, blow, blows, blowing, blew, whistles, whistled, whistling