dug up dirt
Uncovered damaging information
To dig up dirt is to uncover damaging or embarrassing information about someone, usually for use against them: Opposition researchers dug up dirt on the candidate's past.
The dirt is scandalous material—affairs, shady deals, old arrests.
The phrase implies deliberate investigation rather than accidental discovery.
- digUnearth by shoveling
- shovelTool for moving earth
- dossierFile of personal information
- smoking gunIrrefutable proof of wrongdoing
- artifactHuman-made historical object
reporter · scandal · skeleton in closet · trench · whistleblower · expose · informant · background check · spade · revelation · tilling · muckraking · hit piece · relic · buried secret · watchdog journalism · investigation · paper trail
concealment vs. exposure
dug up dirtcovered up
swept under the rug · hushed up · concealed · whitewashed · stonewalled
dug, dirt, digger, diggers, upped, upping, upper, upward, upwards