intransitive. To acknowledge oneself to be in the wrong; to admit one's inferiority or error. Obsolete.

intransitive. confess to (a thing): To plead guilty to (a charge), own to (a fault or weakness); to admit, acknowledge. With indirect passive.

intransitive. To confess or admit to something; = to own up at sense 5c. Now somewhat literary.

intransitive. With to. To acknowledge a fact or personal quality; to confess to responsibility for an action, esp. a crime.

clean breast: a pure or untroubled heart, a clear conscience. Chiefly in to make a clean breast of: to unburden oneself by making a full disclosure…

intransitive and transitive = confess, v. Frequently with up.

intransitive. Originally U.S. colloquial. to own up: to make a full admission or confession, esp. when challenged or pressed; to confess frankly (to…

With out (or †forth): To utter in a proud, spiteful, plain, or unreserved manner. Also without adverb: To speak (a language). Frequently in to spit i…

clean breast: a pure or untroubled heart, a clear conscience. Chiefly in to make a clean breast of: to unburden oneself by making a full disclosure…

To confess; to give information (cf. sense 3b). slang (originally U.S.).

Phrases (figurative): clean bill of health: see bill of health n. at bill, n.3 compounds 1; to have clean hands, to keep the hands clean: to be…

to spill one's guts (out): to divulge as much as one can, to confess. slang (chiefly U.S.).

colloquial (chiefly U.S.). tell papa: used as an invitation to confide in the speaker.