there's no smoke without fire

there's no smoke without fire

There is usually truth behind a rumor, suspicion, or bad sign. We decided to investigate the company's financial statements, since they had been paying next to no tax even though their profits were way up. There's no smoke without fire, after all. A lot of people have been saying that he cheated on the exam, and while I don't want to believe it, there's no smoke without fire.
See also: fire, no, smoke, without
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

(There's) no smoke without fire.

 and Where there's smoke there's fire.
Prov. There is usually some truth behind every rumor. I'm going to withdraw all my money from that bank. I read an article that the bank was in financial trouble, and where there's smoke there's fire.
See also: fire, no, smoke, without
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

no smoke without fire, there's

Also, where there's smoke there's fire. A suspicion or rumor usually has a basis in fact, as in When the sales figures continued strong but the company still wasn't making money, he suspected something was wrong-there's no smoke without fire . First stated in the late 1300s, this expression appeared in numerous proverb collections from 1546 on and remains current today.
See also: no, smoke, without
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

there's no smoke without fire

or

where there's smoke there's fire

If you say there's no smoke without fire or where there's smoke there's fire, you mean that a rumour about someone doing something bad is probably at least partly true or the rumour would not have started. The story was the main item on the news and people were bound to think there was no smoke without fire. `Do you believe those allegations?' `Where there's smoke there's fire is what I say.'
See also: fire, no, smoke, without
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

no smoke without fire (or where there's smoke there's fire)

there's always some reason for a rumour. proverb
1998 Times This is not saying that there is no smoke without fire—which sentiment underlines why bogus claims can do so much irrevocable damage—but that this is always, necessarily, going to be an incendiary issue.
See also: fire, no, smoke, without
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

there’s no ˌsmoke without ˈfire

(British English) (American English where there’s smoke, there’s ˈfire) (saying) if a lot of people are saying that something bad is happening, it must be partly true: Although he had been found not guilty in court, people are saying that there’s no smoke without fire.
See also: fire, no, smoke, without
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • no smoke without fire
  • no smoke without fire, there's
  • Is there any truth to (something)?
  • Is there any truth to?
  • rumor monger
  • nothing in (something)
  • nothing in it
  • be in the pay of (someone or something)
  • be in the pay of somebody/something
  • odor
References in periodicals archive
I can't quite say after all the rumours I'm reading in the paper because generally there's something and there's no smoke without fire but I'll wait and see when we meet up next week, or this week actually."
NO confidence; sam's doubts over whether he'll still be with toffees next season
The firm's spokeswoman Nicola McGeady told the BBC: "There's no smoke without fire and following the big gamble on Tom Hiddleston in the last 24 hours, we've had no choice but to pull the plug on the market."
TURNDERBALL; Bookies slash odds on Irish actor Aidan being the next James Bond
None of the people who told me heard it from one of the others, so I'm thinking there's no smoke without fire.
NEIGHBOUR'S AFFAIR; your life
His handy slogans like"fire kills in minutes, smoke kills in seconds and there's no smoke without fire" and "laugh or burn; it's your choice" get me every time.
Down the tube: There's nonce so blind.
They say there's no smoke without fire.and it sure looks like there's something smouldering between Elle Macpherson and Sean Penn.
It's one Elle of a date for Sean!; PENN PAL: Together again
THERE'S no smoke without fire. But it's also true that no smoking causes ire.
SUNDAY MERCURY SAYS : Stub out this plan
A Coral spokesman said: "There's no smoke without fire and these bets indicate that the rumours are true."
Bets on 1D split