ˈmuck-raking, vbl. n.
[f. muck-rake n. and v. + -ing1.]
The employing of a muck-rake, in fig. senses. Also concr., the results of psychological or social inquiries.
| 1911 N.Y. Even. Post 25 Jan. 14 The same articles brought President Roosevelt to the defence of the Senate, and led him to apply the word ‘muck-raking’ to the literature of higher exposure. 1919 ‘W. N. P. Barbellion’ Jrnl. Disappointed Man 211 Any eminently ‘right-minded’ Times or Spectator reader will ask: ‘Who in Faith's name is interested in your introspective muck⁓rakings?’ 1931 L. Steffens Autobiogr. i. xiii. 105 My first essay into muck-raking cost me nothing. 1959 [see demagoguery]. 1973 ‘M. Innes’ Appleby's Answer xv. 128 Don't imagine I have the slightest wish to be in on your muck-raking. |