to come to daylight - Glite Dictionary

Examples

After a long investigation, the corruption scandal finally came to daylight, shocking the community.
When the new evidence was found, it came to daylight that the case had been mishandled.
"Few were expecting that such a big harbor would come to daylight," says Istanbul University's Basaran.

Academic text (2007)

Synonyms

to come out

vsto come to daylight

830 2.9

To become known to people after being hidden

is the general revealing after concealment without extra social emphasis

to get out

vsto come to daylight

412 3.5

Become known to many people, even when it was secret

is the general reveal without stressing public diffusion or specific cause

to unfold

vsto come to daylight

239 3.2

Become clear over time

is about a revealed fact after concealment rather than slow clarification

to leak

vsto come to daylight

219 4.1

To tell secret information to the public without permission

is the passive public knowing rather than an intentional act by someone

to come to light

vsto come to daylight

52 3.9

To become known after being hidden

is the same meaning but expressed with a different phrasing

to leak out

vsto come to daylight

24 3.7

People find out secret information without permission

is the neutral reveal without implying accidental or unauthorised release

to break cover

vsto come to daylight

3 7.0

To come out of hiding into the open

is about information being revealed rather than a person ending concealment

to come out in the wash

vsto come to daylight

Informal

2 7.0

A secret or problem becomes known later

is the plain disclosure rather than an eventual solution or outcome

to blow wide open

vsto come to daylight

Literature

1 6.5

To make a secret suddenly become known

is about facts being known generally rather than sudden total exposure

Antonyms

to conceal

282 3.7

To hide something so others cannot see or find it

to keep a secret

76 2.6

To not tell anyone private information

How Known

to expose

146 2.8

to come to daylight

5.1

to emerge

604 4.0

Surface Forms

come to daylight infinitive

came to daylight past

coming to daylight present participle

comes to daylight third person singular

come to daylight past participle

Morphology

come + to + daylight

The meaning 'to become known or be revealed' is directly derivable from combining 'come' (to move or arrive) with 'daylight' (light/exposure) — literally 'come into daylight' → 'be exposed'. This compositional, metaphoric extension mirrors the common cross-linguistic 'come to light' pattern and therefore should be immediately inferable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Come to daylight comes from the simple picture of something hidden being brought out into the sun: to come into daylight is to be seen at last. That's why the phrase means 'to become known' or 'be revealed'.