throw light on

throw (some) light on (something)

To reveal information or details about something; to clarify or help people understand something. We've hired a private investigator to help throw light on the clandestine dealings of the baron. These documents we've uncovered throw some light on how the late author's final book was meant to end.

See also: light, on, throw

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

throw (or cast or shed) light on

help to explain (something) by providing further information about it.

See also: light, on, throw

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

shed light on, to

To explain or clarify. This term was used literally, in the sense of illuminating something, from the fourteenth century. In the fifteenth century light came to be used figuratively for “understanding.” George J. Adler used the expression in his translation of Fauriel’s History of Provençal Poetry (1860): “On these antecedents that I shall first endeavor to shed some light.”

See also: light, shed, to

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer