come clean - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

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  • 1.1 Pronunciation
  • 1.2 Verb
    * 1.2.1 Synonyms
    * 1.2.2 Translations

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

come clean (third-person singular simple present comes clean, present participle coming clean, simple past came clean, past participle **come clean)

1. (idiomatic) To confess; admit the truth.
   • 1921, B. M. Bower, chapter 6, in Sawtooth Ranch:
     "You better come clean, Swan, and tell the whole thing. What was it? Don't talk in circles."
   • 1977 October 23, John Gardner, “The World Of Tolkien”, in New York Times, retrieved 12 Sept 2013:
     Perhaps it is only fair to come clean at the start and confess that I found J.R.R. Tolkien's Unfinished Tales a disappointment.
   • 2005 August 8, “Quotes of the Day”, in Time, retrieved 12 Sept 2013:
     When the sub got stuck, the brass kept the fact under wraps for 32 hours before Russia came clean and asked for foreign help.

• fess up, own up

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