blow the whistle
"blow-the-whistle" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“blow the whistle” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 16
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To disclose information to the public or to appropriate authorities concerning the illegal or socially harmful actions of a person or group, especially a corporation or government agency.
Corpus desk
Index EN-blow-the-whistle · blow the whistle · English
blow the whistle · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 16 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | blow the whistle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 16 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “blow the whistle” in English
Rare enough to double-check
blow the whistle is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for blow the whistle, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: When used idiomatically, probably an allusion to a police officer blowing his or her whistle on observing a violation of the law. The correct English form is blow the whistle, spelled B-L-O-W- -T-H-E- -W-H-I-S-T-L-E.
Definition
- 1To disclose information to the public or to appropriate authorities concerning the illegal or socially harmful actions of a person or group, especially a corporation or government agency.
- 2To make a piercing sound which signals a referee's action or the end of a game.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how blow the whistle appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
In some jurisdictions, it is illegal to fire a person for blowing the whistle on an employer.
In recent months, tech journalists at The New York Times have received quite a few such messages, sent by people who claim to have unlocked hidden knowledge with the help of ChatGPT, which then instructed them to blow the whistle on what they had uncovered.
Etymology
When used idiomatically, probably an allusion to a police officer blowing his or her whistle on observing a violation of the law.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.