Home › Glossary › Letter G

Get wind of

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

To learn about a secret or private piece of information, often by chance, through overhearing or being told by someone connected to the secret.

Detailed Definition
Get wind of means to hear about something indirectly, often before it is officially announced or openly admitted. In poetry, the idiom can evoke rumour, secrecy, suspicion, gossip, political intrigue, or approaching danger. Its wind image makes information feel airy, invisible, and moving beyond control. This is useful in poems where truth travels through whispers, weather, streets, or households. The phrase can also suggest intuition: the speaker senses change before evidence appears, as though news has entered the atmosphere.
Example
Example in poetry:
A ballad may say the guards got wind of the escape before midnight; In a village satire, everyone gets wind of the scandal before the bride does; The phrase can show rumour moving invisibly; A poet might compare getting wind of news to smelling rain before a storm.
Additional Notes
To get wind of something means to hear a rumour or learn a secret indirectly. The wind metaphor suggests information travelling invisibly, unpredictably, and perhaps beyond control. In poetry, it suits gossip, espionage, political warning, love affairs, and village life. Students can connect it with breath, whispers, weather, scent, and leaves, all of which make hidden knowledge feel atmospheric.
Also Known As
hear about
Skip to main content