muckrake v. i. (past & past part. muckraked; pres. part. muckraking) To seek for, expose, or charge, especially habitually, corruption, real or alleged, on the part of public men and corporations. Note: On April 14, 1906, President Roosevelt delivered a speech on "The Man with the Muck Rake," in which he deprecated sweeping and unjust charges of corruption against public men and corporations. The phrase was taken up by the press, and the verb to muckrake, in the above sense, and the noun muckraker, to designate one so engaged, were speedily coined and obtained wide currency. The original allusion was to a character in Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" so intent on raking up muck that he could not see a celestial crown held above him.
... all bluff," replied the journalist easily. "We never turn loose on anything but the surface of things. Why, if any one started in really to muckrake this old respectable burg, the smell would drive most of our best citizens to ... — The Clarion • Samuel Hopkins Adams Read full book for free!
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