Adjacent Words

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

EXPO'SE, v.t. s as z. [L. expositum, from expono; ex and pono, to place. The radical sense of pono is to set or place, or rather to throw or thrust down. To expose is to set or throw open, or to thrust forth.]
1. To lay open; to set to public view; to disclose; to uncover or draw from concealment; as, to expose the secret artifices of a court; to expose a plan or design.
2. To make bare; to uncover; to remove from any thing that which guards or protects; as, to expose the head or the breast to the air.
3. To remove from shelter; to place in a situation to be affected or acted on; as, to expose one's self to violent heat.
4. To lay open to attack, by any means; as, to expose an army or garrison.
5. To make liable; to subject; as, to expose one's self to pain, grief or toil; to expose one's self to insult.
6. To put in the power of; as, to expose one's self to the seas.
7. To lay open to censure, ridicule or contempt.
A fool might once himself alone expose.
8. To lay open, in almost any manner; as, to expose one's self to examination or scrutiny.
9. To put in danger. The good soldier never shrinks from exposing himself, when duty requires it.
10. To cast out to chance; to place abroad, or in a situation unprotected. Some nations expose their children.
11. To lay open; to make public. Be careful not unnecessarily to expose the faults of a neighbor.
12. To offer; to place in a situation to invite purchasers; as, to expose goods to sale.
13. To offer to inspection; as, to expose paintings in a gallery.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the exposure of an impostor or a fraud; "he published an expose of the graft and corruption in city government" [syn: expose, unmasking] v
1: expose or make accessible to some action or influence; "Expose your students to art"; "expose the blanket to sunshine"
2: make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret; "The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold"; "The actress won't reveal how old she is"; "bring out the truth"; "he broke the news to her"; "unwrap the evidence in the murder case" [syn: unwrap, disclose, let on, bring out, reveal, discover, expose, divulge, break, give away, let out]
3: to show, make visible or apparent; "The Metropolitan Museum is exhibiting Goya's works this month"; "Why don't you show your nice legs and wear shorter skirts?"; "National leaders will have to display the highest skills of statesmanship" [syn: expose, exhibit, display]
4: remove all or part of one's clothes to show one's body; "uncover your belly"; "The man exposed himself in the subway" [syn: uncover, expose] [ant: cover]
5: disclose to view as by removing a cover; "The curtain rose to disclose a stunning set" [syn: disclose, expose]
6: put in a dangerous, disadvantageous, or difficult position [syn: queer, expose, scupper, endanger, peril]
7: expose to light, of photographic film
8: expose while ridiculing; especially of pretentious or false claims and ideas; "The physicist debunked the psychic's claims" [syn: debunk, expose]
9: abandon by leaving out in the open air; "The infant was exposed by the teenage mother"; "After Christmas, many pets get abandoned"

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (exposed; exposing) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French exposer, from Latin exponere to set forth, explain (perfect indicative exposui), from ex- + ponere to put, place — more at position Date: 15th century 1. a. to deprive of shelter, protection, or care ; subject to risk from a harmful action or condition <expose troops needlessly> <has not yet been exposed to measles> b. to submit or make accessible to a particular action or influence <expose children to good books>; especially to subject (a sensitive photographic film, plate, or paper) to radiant energy c. to abandon (an infant) especially by leaving in the open 2. a. to make known ; bring to light (as something shameful) b. to disclose the faults or crimes of <expose a murderer> 3. to cause to be visible or open to view ; display: as a. to offer publicly for sale b. to exhibit for public veneration c. to reveal the face of (a playing card) or the cards of (a player's hand) d. to engage in indecent exposure of (oneself) Synonyms: see show • exposer noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 leave uncovered or unprotected, esp. from the weather. 2 (foll. by to) cause to be liable to or in danger of (was exposed to great danger). 3 (as exposed adj.) a (foll. by to) open to; unprotected from (exposed to the east). b vulnerable, risky. 4 Photog. subject (a film) to light, esp. by operation of a camera. 5 reveal the identity or fact of (esp. a person or thing disapproved of or guilty of crime etc.). 6 disclose; make public. 7 exhibit, display. 8 put up for sale. Phrases and idioms: expose oneself display one's body, esp. the genitals, publicly and indecently. Derivatives: exposer n. Etymology: ME f. OF exposer after L exponere: see EXPONENT, POSE(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Expos'e Ex`po`s['e]", n. [F., prop. p. p. of exposer. See Expose, v. t.] A formal recital or exposition of facts; exposure, or revelation, of something which some one wished to keep concealed.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Expose Ex*pose", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Exposed; p. pr. & vb. n. Exposing.] [F. exposer; pref. ex- (L. ex out)+poser to place. See Pose, v. t.] 1. To set forth; to set out to public view; to exhibit; to show; to display; as, to expose goods for sale; to expose pictures to public inspection. Those who seek truth only, freely expose their principles to the test, and are pleased to have them examined. --Locke. 2. To lay bare; to lay open to attack, danger, or anything objectionable; to render accessible to anything which may affect, especially detrimentally; to make liable; as, to expose one's self to the heat of the sun, or to cold, insult, danger, or ridicule; to expose an army to destruction or defeat. Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel. --Shak. 3. To deprive of concealment; to discover; to lay open to public inspection, or bring to public notice, as a thing that shuns publicity, something criminal, shameful, or the like; as, to expose the faults of a neighbor. You only expose the follies of men, without arraigning their vices. --Dryden. 4. To disclose the faults or reprehensible practices of; to lay open to general condemnation or contempt by making public the character or arts of; as, to expose a cheat, liar, or hypocrite.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(exposes, exposing, exposed) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. To expose something that is usually hidden means to uncover it so that it can be seen. Lowered sea levels exposed the shallow continental shelf beneath the Bering Sea... ...the exposed brickwork. VERB: V n, V-ed 2. To expose a person or situation means to reveal that they are bad or immoral in some way. The Budget does expose the lies ministers were telling a year ago... He has simply been exposed as an adulterer and a fool. VERB: V n, be V-ed as n/adj, also V n as n/adj 3. If someone is exposed to something dangerous or unpleasant, they are put in a situation in which it might affect them. They had not been exposed to most diseases common to urban populations... A wise mother never exposes her children to the slightest possibility of danger. ...people exposed to high levels of radiation. VERB: be V-ed to n, V n to n, V-ed 4. If someone is exposed to an idea or feeling, usually a new one, they are given experience of it, or introduced to it. ...local people who've not been exposed to glimpses of Western life before... These units exposed children to many viewpoints of a given issue. VERB: be V-ed to n, V n to n 5. A man who exposes himself shows people his genitals in a public place, usually because he is mentally or emotionally disturbed. Smith admitted indecently exposing himself on Wimbledon Common. VERB: V pron-refl

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Uncover, bare, make bare. 2. Disclose, detect, descry, lay open, show up, bring to light. 3. Unmask, denounce, show up, strip of disguises or concealments, show in one's real light. 4. Subject, make liable. 5. Endanger, jeopardize, put in danger, put in peril. 6. [Said of infants.] Leave out, abandon, leave in a solitary place, abandon to the perils of solitude. 7. Exhibit, set in view, put in a conspicuous place.

Moby Thesaurus

advertise, air, apocalypse, attaint, awaken, bare, baring, belie, bespatter, betray, blacken, blot, blow sky-high, blow up, blow upon, brand, brandish, break the seal, break the spell, bring to light, broadcast, burst the bubble, censure, clear, compromise, construction, correct, debunk, defame, defile, deflate, denudate, denude, deobstruct, develop, dig up, disabuse, disappoint, disapprove, disclose, disclosing, disclosure, disconfirm, disconfirmation, discover, discovering, discovery, discredit, disenchant, disillude, disillusion, disillusionize, disinter, dismask, disparage, display, disport, disproof, disproval, disprove, disproving, divest, divulge, draw the veil, encounter danger, endanger, enlighten, excavate, exegesis, exhibit, exhume, explication, explode, explosion, expose to infamy, exposition, exposure, ferret out, fish up, flash, flaunt, fleece, free, gamble, gamble with, gibbet, hang in effigy, hazard, impart, imperil, incur danger, interpretation, invalidate, invalidation, jeopard, jeopardize, jeopardy, lay bare, lay open, laying bare, leak, let daylight in, let down easy, let in on, let out, make known, manifest, manifestation, negate, negation, negative, open, open up, parade, patefaction, patefy, peril, pillory, pluck, present, prick the bubble, prove the contrary, publish, puncture, put in danger, put in jeopardy, put in writing, put straight, raise the curtain, redargution, reductio ad absurdum, remove, removing the veil, reprimand, reveal, revealing, revealment, revelation, risk, root up, set right, set straight, shear, show, show off, show up, showing up, showup, slur, smear, soil, stain, stigmatize, strip, strip bare, stripping, subject, subject to, sully, taint, tarnish, tell the truth, trot out, turn up, unblindfold, unblock, uncase, uncharm, unclench, uncloak, uncloaking, unclog, unclothe, unclutch, uncork, uncover, uncovering, uncurtain, undeceive, undercut, undo, undrape, undress, unearth, unfold, unfolding, unfoldment, unfoul, unfurl, unkennel, unlatch, unlock, unmask, unmasking, unpack, unplug, unroll, unscreen, unseal, unsheathe, unshroud, unshut, unspell, unstop, unveil, unveiling, unwrap, unwrapping, ventilate, vilify, wake up, worm out