shine a light on

English

Alternative forms

• shine light on

Verb

shine a light on (third-person singular simple present shines a light on, present participle shining a light on, simple past and past participle shined a light on or shone a light on)

1. (figurative) To make clear; to shed light on; to throw light on.
   • 2012 July 13, Megan Angelo, “From Other Woman to Everywoman”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 7 May 2024:

     It’s cool to shine a light on something you’ve experienced for years. I did six pilots prior to getting this show, and with all six I experienced at least one or two of the types of network executives we have on “Episodes.”

   • 2012 December 5, Nicholas Kristof, “Gifts That Change Lives”, in The New York Times‎^[2], archived from the original on 2024-05-07:

     I’ll take a university student, undergraduate or graduate, with me on a reporting trip to Africa next summer. Together we’ll shine a light on neglected issues.

   • 2013 October 12, Tim Lewis, “Letters of Note: the website that revived the fine art of correspondence”, in The Guardian‎^[3], archived from the original on 2022-05-21:

     "It's great to shine a light on the subject and I really wish it would cause a huge resurgence," says Usher. "But you can't really fight the advance of technology and I'm as bad as the next person.

   • 2014 April 2, Amye Kenall, Simon Harold, Christopher Foote, “An open future for ecological and evolutionary data?”, in BMC Ecology, volume 14, number 1, →DOI:

     In this way, an author can validate his or her study by shining a light on the validity, and strong reuse potential, of the data behind the study.

   • 2016 August 24, Anna Macdonald, “Greater transparency around the arms trade would save countless lives”, in The Guardian‎^[4], archived from the original on 2024-05-07:

     Greater transparency can help stop illegal sales, reduce the risk of arms being diverted to terrorist groups and criminals; stop the flood of weapons to human rights abusers, and stop the arms that are being used to violate humanitarian law in too many communities on too many days. It’s time to shine a light on this deadly trade.

Usage notes

The form "shine a light on" is more common than "shine light on".