own up (to), to
own up (to something)
to admit something; to confess to something. I know you broke the window. Come on and own up to it.
See also: own, up
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
own up
Confess, make a full admission, as in Come on, Tim, you'd better own up that you lost the car keys. This idiom uses the verb own in the sense of "acknowledge." [Colloquial; mid-1800s]
See also: own, up
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
own up
v.
To confess to something; admit something: If the person who stole the erasers doesn't own up, recess will be canceled. The thief owned up to the crime.
See also: own, up
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
own up (to), to
To admit something, to confess. Dating from the mid-1800s, this expression seems to use own in the sense of possessing responsibility for something. “On being arrested he owned up to his crime,” appeared in the Boston Journal (May 23, 1890).
See also: own, up
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- call something your own
- hold one's own, to
- each to his/her/their own
- know one's own mind, to
- (the) odds are (that)
- odds are, the
- noggin
- for its own sake
- lights
- cut your own throat