(idiomatic) To confess; admit the truth. #: Should I come clean about eating the leftover chicken, or just blame it on the dog?
1921, B. M. Bower, Sawtooth Ranch, ch. 6:"You better come clean, Swan, and tell the whole thing. What was it? Don't talk in circles."
1977 Oct. 23, John Gardner (American writer), "The World Of Tolkien," New York Times (retrieved 12 Sept 2013)Perhaps it is only fair to come clean at the start and confess that I found J.R.R. Tolkien's Unfinished Tales a disappointment.
2005 August 8, " Quotes of the Day," Time (retrieved 12 Sept 2013)When the sub got stuck, the brass kept the fact under wraps for 32 hours before Russia came clean and asked for foreign help.
