smoke out
verb
to subject to smoke in order to drive out of hiding
to bring into the open; expose to the public
they smoked out the plot
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Idioms and Phrases
Expose, reveal, bring to public view, as in Reporters thrive on smoking out a scandal . This expression alludes to driving a person or animal out of a hiding place by filling it with smoke. [Late 1500s]Discover More
Example Sentences
Otis blew smoke out of his nose, admiring his own muscular arms.
It was a buggy summer day, and the group of four began building a fire in a barrel to smoke out the mosquitoes.
Humans, in turn, chop open the trees where the nests are located and smoke out the furious bees.
Rain and wind will help push the smoke out beginning Sunday night, said Kirby Cook, meteorologist for the National Weather Service Seattle.
“The pattern will be turning more westerly as we go into tomorrow, so that should help push some of the smoke out of the area.”
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.