sweep something under the rug

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sweep something under the rug (third-person singular simple present sweeps something under the rug, present participle sweeping something under the rug, simple past and past participle swept something under the rug)

1. (idiomatic) To conceal a problem (usually an embarrassing or illegal one) expediently, rather than remedy it thoroughly.

   Synonyms: brush something under the rug, brush something under the carpet, sweep something under the carpet

   Coordinate terms: deny (sth.); shrug (sth.) off, wave (sth.) away, dismiss (sth.)

   Near-synonyms: cover (sth.) up, draw a veil over (sth.)

   • 2011 March 7, Brooks Barnes, Bill Carter, Michael Cieply, “Sheen Is Surrounded by a Coterie of Enablers”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     “One of the problems with the entertainment industry is that, to protect the image of these people, they try to deal with the problem by sweeping it under the rug,” said John T. Schwarzlose, chief executive of the Betty Ford Center, the licensed addiction hospital in Rancho Mirage, Calif.