name names

name names

English

Verb

name names

1. (idiomatic) To identify specific people, especially people involved in misdeeds or other secretive activity.
   • 1820, Sir Walter Scott, The Monastery, ch. 24:

     "Prithee, peace, man," said Avenel; "what need of naming names, so we understand each other?"

   • 1918, Henry Blake Fuller, On the Stairs, ch. 3:

     They named names—names which I shall not record here.

   • 1953 May 25, "West Germany: Panthers in the Streets," Time:

     He named names; the whole gang was rounded up, and all were sentenced to two years in reform school.

   • 2008 May 18, Clark Hoyt, "Journalism From the Bottom of the Boat ," New York Times (retrieved 16 June 2011):

     Sometimes it is not the journalist who is in peril but the subject of a story, and naming names can leave both the reporter and the reader uneasy.

Synonyms

• inform, grass up, snitch; See also Thesaurus:rat out

Translations

identify specific people

Finnish: nimetä (fi)

French: citer des noms

See also

• informant

References

• name names at OneLook Dictionary Search