Whistle-blower

Quick meaning: Whistle-blower is a noun meaning (chiefly US) One who reports a problem or violation to the authorities; especially, an employee or former employee who reports a violation by an employer.

Meaning

(chiefly US) One who reports a problem or violation to the authorities; especially, an employee or former employee who reports a violation by an employer.

Example Sentences

We owe it to a small group of brave whistle-blowers that we know about the infractions at all.

As my study proceeded, I began to see that an investigation of organizational morality should also explore managerial dissenters, so-called whistleblowers, many of whom take stands against their organizations on grounds that they define as moral.

The huge breach of the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program in June 2013 was one of the proudest moments in modern journalism, and one of the purest: A brave and disgusted whistle-blower, Edward Snowden, revealed the government’s extensive surveillance of American and foreign citizens.

Usually the whistleblower is not fired outright. The organization's goal is to disconnect the act of whistleblowing from the act of retaliation, which is why so much legislation to protect whistleblowers is practically irrelevant. The usual practice is to demoralize and humiliate the whistleblower, putting him or her under so much psychological stress that it becomes difficult to do a good job.

Word Forms

• whistle-blowers
• whistleblower

Synonyms for whistle-blower

Depending on context, synonyms include abaddon, accuser, beefer, bewrayer, bigmouth, blabber.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include informant, informer, insider, source, drop, whistleblower.

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