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— E.E. Cummings

It is said that if the dead who died in the Great

War were placed head to feet, they would stretch

from New York to San Francisco, and from San

Francisco back again to New York; and if those

…

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verb

To pronounce with an accent or vocal stress.

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Dictionary Entry

come clean

Part of SpeechverbPronunciationkuhm kleen

To confess; admit the truth.

In a Sentence

“After weeks of denial, she finally decided to come clean about the missing money.”

Origin

Mid-20th century American informal phrase, likening confession to having a clean conscience.

Common Phrases

Still being gathered for this entry.

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Synonyms

fess upown up

Antonyms

hidecover uplie

Related Words

confessmake a clean breastconfessefront up'fess upstep forward

Poetry examples for “come clean”

Excerpts from the ReadingWillow English Library collection.

Poetry examples are still being gathered for this entry. They will appear here once matching poems are available in the library.