goldfish bowl

Noun

goldfish bowl (plural goldfish bowls)

1. A transparent bowl in which pet fish are kept.
   • It seemed only a moment after Tom had decided that Sara must tell the truth that Alice came into the sitting-room to find the goldfish bowl broken in a thousand pieces and the gasping fish beating themselves on the floor.1920, Mary Heaton Vorse, Growing Up

   Synonyms:

   fish bowl

2. (broadly, figuratively) Any place that lacks privacy, especially a room with a large window facing a public area.
   • "Because East Midlands Railway's HQ is here in Derby, we're rather in a goldfish bowl... and now there's the announcement that Derby will be the Great British Railway headquarters, so the goldfish bowl is about to get a whole lot bigger," he says.2023 November 1, Nick Brodrick talks to Jason Cocker, “A station that "oozes" customer service...”, in RAIL, number 995, page 50

   Synonyms:

   fish bowl