get wind of

• catch wind of

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get wind of (third-person singular simple present gets wind of, present participle getting wind of, simple past got wind of, past participle (UK) got wind of or (US) gotten wind of)

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To hear about; to learn of, especially with respect to facts intended to have been kept confidential or secret.
   • 1861, Charles Dickens, chapter 51, in Great Expectations:

     [T]he secret was still a secret, except that you had got wind of it.

   • 1917, Sax Rohmer, chapter 7, in The Hand of Fu-Manchu:

     "It's no easy matter," said Inspector Weymouth, "to patrol the vicinity of John Ki's Joy-Shop without their getting wind of it."

   • 2001, Ginny Parker, "Dating Game," Time, 4 June:

     He asks that I don't identify his name and profession, saying he doesn't want colleagues to get wind of his habits.

• get wind