To make a clean breast

To make a clean breast
Breast Breast (br[e^]st), n. [OE. brest, breost, As. bre['o]st; akin to Icel. brj[=o]st, Sw. br["o]st, Dan. bryst, Goth. brusts, OS. briost, D. borst, G. brust.] 1. The fore part of the body, between the neck and the belly; the chest; as, the breast of a man or of a horse. [1913 Webster]

2. Either one of the protuberant glands, situated on the front of the chest or thorax in the female of man and of some other mammalia, in which milk is secreted for the nourishment of the young; a mamma; a teat. [1913 Webster]

My brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother. --Cant. viii. 1. [1913 Webster]

3. Anything resembling the human breast, or bosom; the front or forward part of anything; as, a chimney breast; a plow breast; the breast of a hill. [1913 Webster]

Mountains on whose barren breast The laboring clouds do often rest. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

4. (Mining) (a) The face of a coal working. (b) The front of a furnace. [1913 Webster]

5. The seat of consciousness; the repository of thought and self-consciousness, or of secrets; the seat of the affections and passions; the heart. [1913 Webster]

He has a loyal breast. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

6. The power of singing; a musical voice; -- so called, probably, from the connection of the voice with the lungs, which lie within the breast. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

By my troth, the fool has an excellent breast. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

{Breast drill}, a portable drilling machine, provided with a breastplate, for forcing the drill against the work.

{Breast pang}. See {Angina pectoris}, under {Angina}.

{To make a clean breast}, to disclose the secrets which weigh upon one; to make full confession. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • make a clean breast of something — phrase to tell the truth about something wrong that you have done so that you can stop feeling guilty about it Thesaurus: to admit you are wrong or have done something wrongsynonym Main entry: clean * * * I see clean I …   Useful english dictionary

  • make a clean breast — If someone makes a clean breast, they confess in full to something they have done …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • make a clean breast of it — ► make a clean breast of it fully confess something. Main Entry: ↑clean …   English terms dictionary

  • make a clean breast — index betray (disclose) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • make a clean breast of — verb admit or acknowledge a wrongdoing or error the writer of the anonymous letter owned up after they identified his handwriting • Syn: ↑own up, ↑fess up • Hypernyms: ↑concede, ↑profess, ↑confess …   Useful english dictionary

  • make a clean breast — phrasal : to make a full disclosure or confession decided to make a clean breast of his part in the affair * * * make a clean breast To make a full confession • • • Main Entry: ↑breast …   Useful english dictionary

  • make a clean breast — verb to be honest about something; to confess 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? …   Wiktionary

  • make a clean breast of it — to tell the truth about something, especially something bad or illegal that you have done, so that you do not have to feel guilty any more. After months of lying about the money, I decided to make a clean breast of it and tell the truth …   New idioms dictionary

  • To make a clean breast — Clean Clean (kl[=e]n), a. [Compar. {Cleaner} (kl[=e]n [ e]r); superl. {Cleanest}.] [OE. clene, AS. cl[=ae]ne; akin to OHG. chleini pure, neat, graceful, small, G. klein small, and perh. to W. glan clean, pure, bright; all perh. from a primitive,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • make a clean breast of — {v. phr.} To admit (your guilt); tell all about (your wrong doing); confess everything. * /The police caught the hit and run driver and he made a clean breast of his crime./ * /Arthur worried because he cheated on the test, and finally he went to …   Dictionary of American idioms

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