whistle-blow

verb

To blow the whistle (on); to report (as a whistleblower).

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Meanings

verbwhistle-blow (third-person singular simple present whistle-blows, present participle whistle-blowing, simple past whistle-blew, past participle whistle-blown)

present singular third person whistle-blows · participle present whistle-blowing · past whistle-blew · participle past whistle-blown · alternative whistleblow

  1. rareTo blow the whistle (on); to report (as a whistleblower).

    Students who had whistle-blown in the past provided fewer reasons not to whistle-blow than other students.

    2012, Cynthia Jeffrey, Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics, →ISBN, page 215
    1 more example

    It was at this point that 46 (77%) of the participants whistleblew (in writing) on the cheating confederate.

    2002, Kipling D. Williams, Ostracism: The Power of Silence, →ISBN, page 201

Origin

Back-formation from whistleblowing or whistleblower, equivalent to whistle + blow.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

whistle-blow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whistle-blow

MLA

“whistle-blow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whistle-blow. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “whistle-blow,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whistle-blow.

Source: whistle-blow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.