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murder will out

idiom
Meaning

Secrets or hidden crimes will eventually be exposed or discovered; nothing that is secret can remain a secret forever.


Origin

disputed origin

The phrase murder will out, literally "murder will become public", appears as far back as Geoffrey Chaucer's works. The phrase is often linked to the superstition that a murderer's presence near the corpse will be indicated by fresh bleeding.

Examples
SIMPLE

Be careful with your secrets, because murder will out.

CONTEXTUAL

He thought he had hidden the evidence perfectly, but he forgot that murder will out.

COMPLEX

Despite the decades of silence and the careful destruction of records, the truth eventually surfaced, proving once again that murder will out.

Anchors to
Related idioms2entries
  1. 01

    half murder

    The committing of a grievous, but not fatal, injury.

  2. 02

    scream bloody murder

    To scream loudly in fear, pain, etc.

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