make a clean breast of
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Confess fully, as in Caught shoplifting, the girls decided to make a clean breast of it to their parents. This expression, first recorded in 1752, uses clean breast in the sense of baring of one's heart, the breast long considered the seat of private or secret feelings.
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Words nearby make a clean breast of
Makati, make, make a beeline for, make a break for, make a bundle, make a clean breast of, make a clean breast of it, make a clean sweep, make a comeback, make a crack, make a date
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.