get wind of

Idioms and Phrases

Learn of; hear a rumor about. For example, “If my old aunt gets wind of it, she'll cut me off with a shilling” (William Makepeace Thackeray, in Paris Sketch Book , 1840). This expression alludes to an animal perceiving a scent carried by the wind. [First half of 1800s]

Example Sentences

Nefarious villains get wind of this and plot to rob the entire party.

From Los Angeles Times

“I get wind of this video on Instagram, and it changed my whole world,” she said, “because I had felt completely alone.”

From Los Angeles Times

While staying at a hotel in the British seaside resort of Bournemouth, they stumble across the witches — who have convened under the cover of a child-cruelty prevention charity — and get wind of their murderous conspiracy.

From New York Times

After Melanie and the MIS team get wind of the insidious pleasures to be had from Bliss, a new sex-enhancing drug that is quickly pulling countless users into its undertow, her remit expands into something much larger and more pernicious: stop Bliss from pulling every addict in America into its force field, thereby turning Health Net Secure into its own police state.

From Los Angeles Times

“But I couldn’t ask the Palace to find me one. Some courtier would get wind of my condition and leak it to the press and the next thing I knew my todger would be all over the front pages.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• catch
• come upon
• design
• detect
• determine
• devise
• disclose
• explore
• hear
• identify
• invent
• learn
• locate
• notice
• observe
• realize
• recognize
• reveal
• see
• spot