Exposing

How to spell exposing

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce exposing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does exposing mean?

1. verbMaking something hidden visible, or leaving something open to a force, risk, or condition.

Exposing in a sentence

• The documentary is devoted to exposing corruption inside city hall.

• Exposing bare skin to strong sunlight without protection quickly causes burns.

Where does exposing come from?

Language of origin: French

The base verb expose came into English in the early 1400s from the Old French exposer, meaning to set out, display, or explain. The French form had been shaped by the Latin exponere, built from ex- meaning out and ponere meaning to place or put, so the literal idea was to put something out into the open. The spelling with -pos- rather than -pon- arose because the French verb merged the Latin sense with poser, to lay down, which is also why we get pose, compose, and deposit from the same family. Over time the word gathered its modern senses of revealing what was hidden and of laying something open to risk or to the elements. The -ing form simply adds the present participle ending, and because the final e of expose is dropped before -ing, the trap for writers is keeping a single s and a single consonant rather than doubling anything.

How the word is built

• ex- (out)
• pos (from Latin ponere: to place or put)
• -ing (present participle)