Idiom meaning, usage examples, facts

1. The thief admitted to the judge that he was guilty and told him the whole story of his crime. He made a clean breast of it .
2. The children had lied about taking the candy without permission. They eventually went to their father and made a clean breast of it , telling him everything.

Compare to: wipe the slate clean; get something off (one’s) chest. Whereas make a clean breast of it concerns a wrongdoing, get something off one’s chest refers more generally to one’s troubles, worries, or concerns. The expression suggests that guilt is kept in one’s breast (heart) and that by revealing one’s guilt, one cleans one’s breast.