# murder will out

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/murder-will-out
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

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

## Examples

- Be careful with your secrets, because murder will out.
- He thought he had hidden the evidence perfectly, but he forgot that murder will out.
- The corrupt politician believed his lies were safe, but the leaked documents proved that murder will out when the public finally learned the truth.
- Despite the decades of silence and the careful destruction of records, the truth eventually surfaced, proving once again that murder will out.

## Origin

The phrase appears as early as the late 14th century within the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, functioning as a literal assertion that the crime of homicide will inevitably become public knowledge. It is frequently associated with the mediaeval superstition of cruentation, which held that the presence of a murderer would cause a corpse’s wounds to bleed afresh. While the forensic utility of a leaking cadaver has since been questioned, the linguistic observation that such secrets rarely keep themselves has remained in the English lexicon for over six centuries.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.