make a clean breast
/ˈmeɪk ə ˈklin bɹɛst/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.25 in modern English
26
Scrabble Score
16
Letters
2
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Often followed by of: to be honest about something; to confess.
Example Sentences
- "He preſſed him earneſtly to make a clean breaſt, and tell him all he knew of [Colin Roy Campbell of] Glenure's murder. To which Breck [i.e., Alan Breck Stewart] anſwered with an oath, that he had never ſeen Glenure dead or alive."
- ""Master," he said that day to me, "this must come to an end. I must make a clean breast of it. This Nemo is leaving land and going up to the north. But I declare to you that I have had enough of the South Pole, and I will not follow him to the North.""
- "'It is well, then, that we should be frank,' said the other. 'We both think more than we have said; let us make a clean breast. This masked figure that you saw, did you recognise it?'"
- "You know no doubt that most criminals at some time or other feel an irresistible need of confessing—of making a clean breast of it to somebody—to anybody."
- "I had lied to Paddock about him, and the whole thing looked desperately fishy. If I made a clean breast of it and told the police everything he had told me, they would simply laugh at me."
- "Instead, imagine that a software project manager approaches you and makes a clean breast of his uncertainty about your proposed project: "Look, there are unknowns here, and we have catalogued the following eleven of them.""
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmeɪk ə ˈklin bɹɛst/
- British English: /ˈmeɪk ə ˈkliːn bɹɛst/