where there's smoke there's fire

where there's smoke, there's fire

proverb When there is some indication of a problem or wrongdoing, such a thing probably occurred or exists. The investigation wouldn't be taking this long if there weren't any real leads. Where there's smoke, there's fire.
See also: fire
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

where there's smoke there's fire

Every rumor has some foundation; when things appear suspicious, something is wrong. The metaphor for this idea already appeared in John Heywood’s Proverbs (1546): “There is no fyre without smoke,” and indeed it is a proverb in Italian, French, German, and Spanish.
See also: fire, smoke
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • teach a man to fish
  • it takes a village
  • village
  • a trouble shared is a trouble halved
  • best-laid plans go astray, the
  • the best-laid plans
  • the best-laid plans go astray
  • the best-laid plans of mice and men
  • for want of a nail
  • For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse ...
References in periodicals archive
"Where there's smoke there's fire is an age-old adage," Shah said.
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Defending oneself is equally useless, because most people believe "where there's smoke there's fire." I do, too, but I'm not convinced that the smoke and fire have a common origin.
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"Where there's smoke there's fire," he said, pointing to another problem with cigatettes.
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This "where there's smoke there's fire" strategy treats causal links and connective tissue as incidental.
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