whistle-blow

See also: whistleblow and whistle blow

English

Alternative forms

• whistleblow

Etymology

Back-formation from whistleblowing or whistleblower.

Verb

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

1. (rare) To blow the whistle (on); to report (as a whistleblower).
   • 2002, Kipling D. Williams, Ostracism: The Power of Silence, →ISBN, page 201:

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

   • 2012, Cynthia Jeffrey, Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics, →ISBN, page 215:

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