inside job
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: - A crime committed by or with the help of a person within an organization: An "inside job" is a transgression, such as a theft, fraud, or security breach, that is carried out with the assistance of someone who is part of the targeted group, company, or institution and has special access or trust.
Usage
- The term is almost exclusively used to describe crimes and security breaches. It emphasizes betrayal from within a trusted circle.
- It is commonly used in news reports, detective stories, and discussions about security.
Examples
- The bank robbery was an inside job; the thieves used the manager's keycard.
- After the confidential data leak, investigators suspected it was an inside job.
- The CEO refused to believe the embezzlement could be an inside job committed by his long-time assistant.
Advanced Usage
- The phrase can be used metaphorically in non-criminal contexts to describe any situation where a failure or problem is caused by an internal member of a group.
- The team's loss felt like an inside job; their own star player made a critical error.
Variants and Related Words
- Insider threat (n): A security risk that originates from within the organization, often used in corporate and cybersecurity contexts.
- Betrayal (n): The broader act of being disloyal, which is a key element of an inside job.
Synonyms
- Insider crime
- Internal conspiracy
- Breach of trust (describes the nature of the act rather than the crime itself)
Related Idioms and Phrases
- To have a mole: To have a secret informant or traitor within an organization. This is related but specifically implies espionage.
- The agency feared they had a mole, making every operation vulnerable.
- The enemy within: A more general and dramatic term for a treacherous person inside a group.
Noun
- some transgression committed with the assistance of someone trusted by the victim
- the police decided that the crime was an inside job