clean breast

Idioms  

1. see make a clean breast of.

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Example Sentences

"He has got to make a clean breast. I usually find that if you make your apologies, it defuses the issue. Can't have it hanging on," said the lawmaker.

From Reuters

“I do,” Lawson said, adding, “I want to make a clean breast of it.”

From Literature

But the federal prosecutors in New York’s Southern District require the full monty: a clean breast of all crimes ever committed, abetted or witnessed.

From Washington Post

It is customary for coöperating witnesses, at the start of their testimony, to make a clean breast of things, so they cannot get caught out on subsequent questioning by the defense.

From The New Yorker

The painting was discovered in part because an aging criminal, a terminally ill man who is 72 and who had been involved with Bulgarian organized crime, wanted to make a clean breast of things before he dies, according to Marc Hess of the F.B.I.’s Art Crime Team, the special agent who is investigating the case.

From New York Times