confess to

confess to (someone or something)

1. To admit something. I don't think he has any intention of confessing to the crime. Everyone knows that you have a crush on Lauren, so you might as well just confess to it!
2. To admit (to something) to someone. I don't think he has any intention of confessing to the police. Everyone knows that you have a crush on Lauren, so you might as well just confess to us!
See also: confess
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

confess something to someone

 and confess to someone
to admit something to someone; to admit having done something to someone. Tom confessed his involvement to the boss. Max confessed to the police.
See also: confess

confess to something

to admit having done something. He will not confess to the crime. In the end, Max confessed to it.
See also: confess
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

confess to

v.
1. To admit to doing something: The kids confessed to eating all the ice cream. I will not confess to a crime I did not commit!
2. To admit something to someone: The thief confessed the crime to the police.
See also: confess
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • confess
  • confess to (someone or something)
  • crush up
  • envisage
  • envisage (someone or something) as (something)
  • envisage as
  • get a crush on (someone)
  • crush (something) out of (someone or something)
  • crush out of
  • grind (something) into (something)
References in classic literature
"You confess to having seen the ram which Beelzebub causes to appear in the clouds to call together the witches' sabbath, and which is beheld by socerers alone?"
"You confess to having adored the heads of Bophomet, those abominable idols of the Templars?"
"Lastly, you avow and confess to having, with the aid of the demon, and of the phantom vulgarly known as the surly monk, on the night of the twenty-ninth of March last, murdered and assassinated a captain named Phoebus de Châteaupers?"
Notre Dame de Paris
Of course, it wasn't right for you to confess to a thing you hadn't done--it was very wrong to do so.
Anne Of Green Gables
He is, moreover, aware that she DOES disapprove the connection, he dares not therefore at present confess to her his engagement with Marianne, and he feels himself obliged, from his dependent situation, to give into her schemes, and absent himself from Devonshire for a while.
Sense and Sensibility
Can you pity my weakness if I confess to having felt a pang at my heart when I read that part of your letter which calls Frank a coward and a villain?
No Name
She is now fifty years old (she confesses to thirty-seven), and her daughters, whom she has never been able to marry, are respectively twenty-seven and twenty-three(they confess to twenty and to seventeen).
Bundle of Letters
HARIPUR -- As an antiterrorism court resumed hearing into the Mashal lynching case here on Friday, the senior lawyer for the accused alleged that the Mardan police were forcing his clients to confess to the killing.
'Police forcing accused to confess to Mashal lynching'
Critics lambasted the Uruguayan earlier this month for his failure to confess to a handball that ultimately saw Liverpool past non-league Mansfield Town in the FA Cup.
Suarez finds himself in no-win situation
LANCE ARMSTRONG is 1-9 with Coral to confess to doping in his interview with Oprah Winfrey tonight (2am), writes Phil Agius.
Armstrong 1-9 to confess; CYCLING
Carissa, who yesterday bravely spoke out for the first time in the hope her father will confess to his crimes, said: "I knew someone had to do something to try to convince him, someone he loves.
I'M READY TO TALK ABOUT BECKY; killer cabbie Evil Halliwell vows he will reveal all to his family
Clarissa, who yesterday spoke out for the first time in the hope her father will confess to his crimes, said: "I knew someone had to do something to try to convince him, someone that he loves.
I'M READY TO SPEAK KILLER 3 Halliwell ABOUT BECKY; Halliwell daughter pleads for info
Oprah told US media after her recent retirement that she had regretted never getting OJ to confess to the murder.
Oprah: OJ Simpson Confession Bogus!
When you confess to God, you are not telling him anything he does not already know.
SUNDAY SERMON