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breast

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bare (one's) breast

1. To expose oneself in a vulnerable or unguarded position, especially to that which may cause harm or distress. I bare my breast to you, so do as you will. I am at your mercy! He bared his breast to the armed guards to show that he was not a threat.

2. To share with another person one's private emotions and thoughts, especially those that are emotionally troubling or make oneself vulnerable to the other person in some way. I bared my breast to Samantha and told her how much I loved her.

See also: bare, breast

make a clean breast

To confess one's misdeeds or wrongdoings. I felt so guilty about cheating on the test that I had to make a clean breast of it to my teacher.

See also: breast, clean, make

make a clean breast of something (to someone)

Fig. to admit something to someone. You should make a clean breast of the matter to someone. You'll feel better if you make a clean breast of the incident.

See also: breast, clean, make, of

keep abreast of something

to have the most recent information about something stay abreast of something This new service helps doctors keep abreast of the newest drugs available.

See also: abreast, keep, of

beat your breast

to publicly pretend that you feel sad or guilty Managers are beating their breasts about the loss of 50 jobs, but staff suspect more redundancies are on the way.

See also: beat, breast

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.

See also: breast, clean, make, of

keep abreast of

Stay or cause to stay up-to-date with, as in He's keeping abreast of the latest weather reports, or Please keep me abreast of any change in his condition. This term alludes to the nautical sense of abreast, which describes ships keeping up with each other. [Late 1600s]

See also: abreast, keep, of

make a clean breast of

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.

See also: breast, clean, make, of

make a clean breast of

To confess fully.

See also: breast, clean, make, of