Meaning of know where the bodies are buried | Babel Free

Definitions

To possess confidential and incriminating information about a person's or organization's misdeeds or other secrets.

idiomatic

Examples

“Senator John Stennis […] has been active and effective for so long as a member of the Armed Services Committee that he knows as well as any man can where the bodies are buried in the Pentagon and the boondoggles are buried in the defense budget.”

“No one except Ecclestone probably really understands the revenues being earned by the sport, such is the secrecy and labyrinthine structure. […] He knows where the bodies are buried. No one wants to get on his wrong side.”

“"My criteria for interviewing people are that they were 'in the room' during the big events, that they know where the bodies are buried and that they are prepared to talk with a degree of candour," he says.”

“Mayor, alderman, park board president. Teacher, coach, athletic director. U.S. Air Force tail gunner and aviator. Pro football player and collegiate wrestler. […] As a longtime observer of the Waukegan scene once joked — with respect — a guy like Richard Hyde "knows where the bodies are buried."”

CEFR level