get wind of
English
Alternative forms
- catch wind of
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
get wind of (third-person singular simple present gets wind of, present participle getting wind of, simple past got wind of, past participle (UK) got wind of or (US) gotten wind of)
- (idiomatic, transitive) To hear about; to learn of, especially with respect to facts intended to have been kept confidential or secret.
- 1861, Charles Dickens, chapter 51, in Great Expectations:
- [T]he secret was still a secret, except that you had got wind of it.
- 1917, Sax Rohmer, chapter 7, in The Hand of Fu-Manchu:
- "It's no easy matter," said Inspector Weymouth, "to patrol the vicinity of John Ki's Joy-Shop without their getting wind of it."
- 2001, Ginny Parker, "Dating Game," Time, 4 June:
- He asks that I don't identify his name and profession, saying he doesn't want colleagues to get wind of his habits.
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Related terms
- get wind
Translations
To hear about; to learn of, especially especially with respect to facts intended to have been confidential
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