Expose Meaning
/ɪkˈspəʊz/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo reveal, uncover, make visible, bring to light, introduce (to).
verbTo subject photographic film to light thereby recording an image.
Sentence Examples
We should sometimes expose our bodies to the sun.
Don't expose the tapes to the sun.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The journalist tried to ____ the corruption within the government agency.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The investigative journalist worked for months to ____ the corruption within the city hall.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English exposen, from Old French exposer (“to lay open, set forth”), from Latin expōnō (“set forth”), with contamination from poser (“to lay, place”). Doublet of expone and expound (via Old French espondre (“to set forth, explain”)), from the same Latin term.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, […]. They also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies."
— 2013 June 7, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 18:
"You understand that by using the Services, you may be exposed to Content that might be offensive, harmful, inaccurate or otherwise inappropriate, or in some cases, postings that have been mislabeled or are otherwise deceptive."
— 2021 August 19, “Twitter User Agreement”, in Twitter, archived from the original on 20 Aug 2021, 3 Content on the Services:
"Many supporters believed Donald Trump would finally expose government cover-ups once he returned to power. But more than six months into his new term, those much-hyped conspiracy theories have either been debunked or quietly fallen apart."
— 2025 July 10, Jesus Mesa, “'We've Been Played': MAGA Faces Its Own Disappointment With Trump”, in Newsweek:
"This they do, as a rule, by exposing the child or throwing it into the sea."
— 1893, Fridtjof Nansen, Eskimo Life, page 152:
"In the OO world, the word is to hide the structure of the data, and expose only functionality. OO designers expose an object to the world in terms of the services it provides."
— 2000, Robert C. Martin, More C++ Gems, page 266:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The journalist tried to ____ the corruption within the government agency.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The investigative journalist worked for months to ____ the corruption within the city hall.