exposed

1. 1
   adjectivewith to

   Open to something, left uncovered or unprotected, and therefore vulnerable or easily harmed.

   Like a chess king whose defenders are gone, open to attack from every side.

   The soldiers were dangerously exposed on the open plain.

   Coastal homes are exposed to the full force of the fall storms.

   Similarvulnerable, unprotected, open, unsheltered, defenseless

   Oppositesheltered, protected, covered, shielded

   Note

   Two constructions share this adjective. With to, it names the threat: exposed to light, to water, to abuse, to danger. Used alone, it describes a place without shelter: a monastery on an exposed cliff, a mountain path with a drop on one or both sides, troops whose position is very exposed. That very marks the adjective, since the past participle usually names the one doing the exposing instead.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of expose.

   Heavy rains exposed the roots of the old oak tree.

   The journalist exposed the corruption after months of research.

   Note

   Every meaning of expose passes into this one form, and the passive shows the range best. Film is exposed to light, an unwanted infant was exposed in the wilderness, and a program's function is exposed to other programs. The Economist in 2014 writes of miners exposed to manganese ores. When to follows and no doer is named, the verb shades into the adjective of unsheltered places.

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