put (someone or something) under a microscope

put (someone or something) under a microscope

To begin closely inspecting someone or something; to examine someone or something with intense scrutiny. After I got that official reprimand at work, it feels like my bosses are putting me under a microscope. The country's surveillance methods are being put under a microscope lately, after news sources learned that it had been eavesdropping on its own citizens' communications.See also: microscope, put