To make a clean breast

To make a clean breast
Clean Clean (kl[=e]n), a. [Compar. {Cleaner} (kl[=e]n"[~e]r); superl. {Cleanest}.] [OE. clene, AS. cl[=ae]ne; akin to OHG. chleini pure, neat, graceful, small, G. klein small, and perh. to W. glan clean, pure, bright; all perh. from a primitive, meaning bright, shining. Cf. {Glair}.] 1. Free from dirt or filth; as, clean clothes. [1913 Webster]

2. Free from that which is useless or injurious; without defects; as, clean land; clean timber. [1913 Webster]

3. Free from awkwardness; not bungling; adroit; dexterous; as, a clean trick; a clean leap over a fence. [1913 Webster]

4. Free from errors and vulgarisms; as, a clean style. [1913 Webster]

5. Free from restraint or neglect; complete; entire. [1913 Webster]

When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of corners of thy field. --Lev. xxiii. 22. [1913 Webster]

6. Free from moral defilement; sinless; pure. [1913 Webster]

Create in me a clean heart, O God. --Ps. li. 10 [1913 Webster]

That I am whole, and clean, and meet for Heaven --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]

7. (Script.) Free from ceremonial defilement. [1913 Webster]

8. Free from that which is corrupting to the morals; pure in tone; healthy. ``Lothair is clean.'' --F. Harrison. [1913 Webster]

9. Well-proportioned; shapely; as, clean limbs. [1913 Webster]

{A clean bill of health}, a certificate from the proper authority that a ship is free from infection.

{Clean breach}. See under {Breach}, n., 4.

{To make a clean breast}. See under {Breast}. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • make a clean breast of something — phrase to tell the truth about something wrong that you have done so that you can stop feeling guilty about it Thesaurus: to admit you are wrong or have done something wrongsynonym Main entry: clean * * * I see clean I …   Useful english dictionary

  • make a clean breast — If someone makes a clean breast, they confess in full to something they have done …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • make a clean breast of it — ► make a clean breast of it fully confess something. Main Entry: ↑clean …   English terms dictionary

  • make a clean breast — index betray (disclose) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • make a clean breast of — verb admit or acknowledge a wrongdoing or error the writer of the anonymous letter owned up after they identified his handwriting • Syn: ↑own up, ↑fess up • Hypernyms: ↑concede, ↑profess, ↑confess …   Useful english dictionary

  • make a clean breast — phrasal : to make a full disclosure or confession decided to make a clean breast of his part in the affair * * * make a clean breast To make a full confession • • • Main Entry: ↑breast …   Useful english dictionary

  • make a clean breast — verb to be honest about something; to confess It is well, then that we should be frank, said the other. We both think more than we have said; let us make a clean breast. This masked figure that you saw, did you recognise it? …   Wiktionary

  • make a clean breast of it — to tell the truth about something, especially something bad or illegal that you have done, so that you do not have to feel guilty any more. After months of lying about the money, I decided to make a clean breast of it and tell the truth …   New idioms dictionary

  • To make a clean breast — Breast Breast (br[e^]st), n. [OE. brest, breost, As. bre[ o]st; akin to Icel. brj[=o]st, Sw. br[ o]st, Dan. bryst, Goth. brusts, OS. briost, D. borst, G. brust.] 1. The fore part of the body, between the neck and the belly; the chest; as, the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • make a clean breast of — {v. phr.} To admit (your guilt); tell all about (your wrong doing); confess everything. * /The police caught the hit and run driver and he made a clean breast of his crime./ * /Arthur worried because he cheated on the test, and finally he went to …   Dictionary of American idioms

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