get wind of

• catch wind of

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get wind of

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To hear about; to learn of, especially with respect to facts intended to have been kept confidential or secret.
   • 1861, Charles Dickens, chapter 51, in Great Expectations:

     [T]he secret was still a secret, except that you had got wind of it.

   • 1917, Sax Rohmer, chapter 7, in The Hand of Fu-Manchu:

     "It's no easy matter," said Inspector Weymouth, "to patrol the vicinity of John Ki's Joy-Shop without their getting wind of it."

   • 2001, Ginny Parker, "Dating Game," Time, 4 June:

     He asks that I don't identify his name and profession, saying he doesn't want colleagues to get wind of his habits.

• get wind