muckrake

[ muhk-reyk ]
See synonyms for: muckrakemuckrakingmuckraker on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object),muck·raked, muck·rak·ing.
  1. to search for and expose real or alleged corruption, scandal, or the like, especially in politics.

Origin of muckrake

1
First recorded in 1675–85; obsolete muck rake “a rake for piling up muck or dung.” The modern sense was first recorded in 1850–55. See muck, rake1

Other words from muckrake

  • muck·rak·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use muckrake in a sentence

  • Muckraking began with the exposure of vice; men like Heney, Lindsey, Folk founded their reputations on the fight against it.

    A Preface to Politics | Walter Lippmann
  • One, however, was sent to the Eastern magazine which had dispatched our muckraking hero to the Golden Gate.

    The Native Son | Inez Haynes Irwin
  • The time had come, he added, to stop "muckraking" and proceed to the constructive work of removing the abuses that had grown up.

    History of the United States | Charles A. Beard and Mary R. Beard
  • Then it went daffy over the muckraking magazine exposures, and threw out all the proprietary copy.

    The Clarion | Samuel Hopkins Adams

British Dictionary definitions for muckrake

muckrake

/ (ˈmʌkˌreɪk) /


noun
  1. an agricultural rake for spreading manure

verb
  1. (intr) to seek out and expose scandal, esp concerning public figures

Derived forms of muckrake

  • muckraker, noun
  • muckraking, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012