put (someone or something) under the microscope

put (someone or something) under the microscope

To begin closely inspecting someone or something; to hold someone or something up to intense scrutiny. After I got that official reprimand at work, it feels like my bosses are putting me under the microscope. The press has put the country's surveillance methods under the microscope since it emerged that it had been eavesdropping on its own citizen's communications.See also: microscope, put