get wind of

get wind of idiom
Learn of; hear a rumor about. For example, “If my old aunt gets wind of it, she'll cut me off with a shilling” (William Makepeace Thackeray, in Paris Sketch Book, 1840). This expression alludes to an animal perceiving a scent carried by the wind. [First half of 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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