make a clean breast of

Idioms  

1. 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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Example Sentences

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

From Literature

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

They’re not wrong, but did part of this come from their secretiveness and unwillingness to make a clean breast of things?”

From Washington Post

In its latest edition, the Times puts the record straight, saying its sister paper had "made a clean breast of it and admitted there's still some nudes to report".

From BBC

"I would not have done that had Mr Evans not made a clean breast of his involvement in these offences."

From BBC