air one's grievances

Idioms & Phrases

air one's grievances

Complain publicly, as in Jane was afraid to complain at work but freely aired her grievances at home. This figurative exposure to the open air is far from new; to air one's opinions or ideas dates from the early 1800s, and the precise idiom appears in James Joyce's Ulysses (1922).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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