Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To disclose (something damaging or inconvenient to oneself); admit. synonym: acknowledge.
- intransitive verb To acknowledge belief or faith in; profess.
- intransitive verb To make known (one's sins) to God or to a priest.
- intransitive verb To hear the confession of (a penitent).
- intransitive verb To admit or acknowledge something damaging or inconvenient to oneself.
- intransitive verb To disclose one's sins to a priest.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To make avowal or admission of, as of a fault, a crime, a charge, a debt, or something that is against one's interest or reputation; own; acknowledge; avow.
- Reflexively, to make an admission or an inculpatory statement concerning; acknowledge to be; specifically, acknowledge the sins or moral faults of, as in auricular confession to a priest: as, I confess myself in error or at fault.
- Eccles., to receive the confession of; act as a confessor to.
- To acknowledge as having a certain character or certain claims; recognize; own; avow; declare belief in.
- To grant; admit; concede.
- To reveal by circumstances; show by effect; disclose; prove; attest.
- Synonyms Admit, Avow, etc. See
acknowledge . - To make confession or avowal; disclose or admit a crime, fault, debt, etc.
- Eccles., to make known one's sins or the state of one's conscience to a priest.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To make confession; to disclose sins or faults, or the state of the conscience.
- intransitive verb To acknowledge; to admit; to concede.
- transitive verb To make acknowledgment or avowal in a matter pertaining to one's self; to acknowledge, own, or admit, as a crime, a fault, a debt.
- transitive verb To acknowledge faith in; to profess belief in.
- transitive verb To admit as true; to assent to; to acknowledge, as after a previous doubt, denial, or concealment.
- transitive verb To make known or acknowledge, as one's sins to a priest, in order to receive absolution; -- sometimes followed by the reflexive pronoun.
- transitive verb To hear or receive such confession; -- said of a priest.
- transitive verb To disclose or reveal, as an effect discloses its cause; to prove; to attest.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To admit to the truth, particularly in the context of sins or crimes committed
- verb To disclose or reveal
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb confess to God in the presence of a priest, as in the Catholic faith
- verb confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure
- verb admit (to a wrongdoing)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Me: Aside from my weak lapse into theistic belief (which I confess is irrational and illogical), what have I written so far that would you disagree with, and why? hrun: The part about that 'logical atheists' would have no basis on which to base their opposition to slavery.
Contentment 2009
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Aside from my weak lapse into theistic belief (which I confess is irrational and illogical), what have I written so far that would you disagree with, and why?
Contentment 2009
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God also forgives those who earnestly seek him and truly confess from the heart concerning their sin.
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One of my character traits, I must confess, is believing in extraordinary expectations ....
Riggleman: Nats will make move by mid-'12 Dan Steinberg 2010
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Aside from my weak lapse into theistic belief (which I confess is irrational and illogical), what have I written so far that would you disagree with, and why?
Contentment 2009
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I confess is not an entirely resolved disquiet but there it is.
Problem : Some BNP supporters are decent people Newmania 2007
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You are right though that Brown does get a high competence rating for the economy which I confess is a worry.
Can I have that but in blue please Newmania 2007
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I confess is not an entirely resolved disquiet but there it is.
Archive 2007-04-15 Newmania 2007
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Nobu whispers to Chiharu that waiting for Otani to take the initiative to confess is like fishing in a swimming pool.
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Of course my interest in comparative religions and theosophies might convince some folks I'm a few bricks short of the wall … all I will confess is that strange things tend to happen, all I hope to do when I sit down is catch some of the strangeness and share it.
Temple: Incarnations preorder update apexdigest 2007
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