come clean


Confess everything, as in If you come clean about what happened I will promise to keep it to myself. [Slang; early 1900s]

Words Nearby come clean

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use come clean in a sentence

  • There's some vile plot laid against Howard, but if he doesn't come clean out of it with flying colors, call me a simpleton.

  • Say, listen, Trencher, you might as well come clean with me.

    From Place to Place | Irvin S. Cobb
  • He was poor, but with the never-failing well on Garrison Hill he could come clean as the richest to his prayers.

    Major Vigoureux | A. T. Quiller-Couch
  • Would he come clean through the moil, winning honor and his place among men?

    The Promise | James B. Hendryx
  • After some bargaining he finally agreed to phone his managingeditor and propose I'd "come clean" for twenty dollars.