under the carpet
3
7.9
- idiom
- Informal
:
bajo la alfombra
- While the country is growing rapidly, these abuses can be swept under the carpet.
- sweep under the carpet
And this is going to put additional pressure on the NHS not even thinking about the other problem of long COVID which has been swept under the carpet.
- And this is going to put additional pressure on the NHS not even thinking about the other problem of long COVID which has been swept under the carpet.
- You say, Well, let's just let's just sweep this under the carpet because we have this giant multiverse that can can create universes within it.
- We can't keep sweeping it under the carpet because one extra person is too many and unfortunately, nothing's going to change until we face it.
Examples
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What Nigerians ought to learn from Chinua Achebe's memoir is that there is no need to sweep what happened only forty years ago under the carpet, while the causes of that same tragedy are at the root of the majority of Nigeria's problems.
Blog text (28) -
It was almost pushed under the carpet and forgotten.
Blog text (28) -
The question 'Why do young people want to drink so badly?' appears to be swept under the carpet.
Blog text (2) -
We cannot brush this under the carpet in the name of tolerance and compassion.
Blog text (15) -
My guess is that they will quietly sweep this part of the scandal under the carpet.
Blog text (29) -
They pretty much swept it under the carpet.
Blog text (28) -
For the past three years, Washington's policy has been to sweep anything toxic under the carpet.
Blog text (3) -
We can't keep sweeping it under the carpet because one extra person is too many and unfortunately, nothing's going to change until we face it.
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We cannot brush this under the carpet any longer.
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It is easy to sweep problems under the carpet instead of solving them directly.
Synonyms
314
3.7
To hide something so people cannot see or find out about it
254
1.6
To cover something completely so it cannot be seen
28
6.0
Most people do not know about it
9
4.2
Under something so it is covered and cannot be seen
8
7.7
To hide a problem instead of dealing with it openly
1
6.7
Hidden from users and working behind the scenes
To ignore or hide problems instead of dealing with them
Kept secret and not told to other people
Antonyms
How Open
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase relies on a clear spatial metaphor — if something is under a carpet it is concealed — so a learner who knows 'under' and 'carpet' can infer the figurative sense of hiding or ignoring. This mapping from physical concealment to metaphorical suppression is cross-linguistically common and follows a simple, predictable composition, making it accessible at B1.
Etymology
The idiom under the carpet comes from the simple image of someone sweeping dust or a mess under a carpet to hide it. So when someone puts something under the carpet, they are keeping it 'secret' or 'ignored' instead of fixing it.