come clean, to
come clean
To admit something to someone, often regarding a wrongdoing that one has tried to hide. We have to come clean with the police before Joe gets punished for our crime! The kids finally came clean about eating the cookies I'd made for the bake sale.
See also: clean, come
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
come clean (with someone) (about something)
Fig. to be honest with somebody about something. I want you to come clean with me about your financial status. Sam will come clean with me. I know he will.
See also: clean, come
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
come clean
Confess everything, as in If you come clean about what happened I will promise to keep it to myself. [Slang; early 1900s]
See also: clean, come
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
come clean
COMMON If you come clean about something, you tell the truth about it. I had expected her to come clean and confess that she only wrote these books for the money. It is now time for the Government to come clean, tell the world exactly how the recent tragedy happened and announce an investigation.
See also: clean, come
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
come clean
be completely honest and frank. informalSee also: clean, come
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
come ˈclean (with somebody) (about something)
(informal) tell the truth about something, especially after lying or keeping it secret: I’ll come clean with you — I’ve been reading your mail. He finally came clean and confessed.See also: clean, come
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
come clean
verbSee come clean with someone about something
See also: clean, come
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
come clean
To confess all.
See also: clean, come
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
come clean, to
To tell the whole truth, to confess. A slangy Americanism dating from the early twentieth century, it most often appeared in crime novels and pertained to confessing guilt. Listed in a collection of argot published in 1919, the term became a cliché through its overuse in murder mysteries. P. G. Wodehouse played on it in Sam the Sudden (1925): “You’d best come clean, Soapy, and have a showdown.”
See also: come
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- come clean
- come clean with (someone)
- come clean with someone
- come clean about (something)
- come clean about something
- blow the whistle (on) (someone), to
- (as) clean as a hound's tooth
- silence
- blue code of silence
- blue wall of silence