breast

(redirected from breasting)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Encyclopedia.

bare (one's) breast

1. To expose oneself in a vulnerable or unguarded position, especially to that which may cause harm or distress. I bare my breast to you, so do as you will. I am at your mercy! He bared his breast to the armed guards to show that he was not a threat. The man had already bared his breast to you! Why did you apprehend him?

2. To share with another person one's private emotions and thoughts, especially those that are emotionally troubling or make oneself vulnerable to the other person in some way. I bared my breast to Samantha and told her how much I loved her. I don't know Adam that well, so I was surprised that he bared his breast to me. Susie's a very private person—she won't bare her breast to just anyone.

beat (one's) breast

To publicly express emotions or views that one does not actually feel or support. During election season, all the candidates beat their breasts about how much they love our communities—and then they get into office and slash community initiatives. Instead of spending all our time beating our breasts about these tragedies, we should be putting our energy toward finding a solution to the underlying problem. It has become tiresome how some of these influencers beat their breasts about a particular issue, only to forget about it entirely in a month's time.

breast man

slang A man who is specifically attracted to a woman's breasts. Some guys are all about legs, but I've always been a breast man, myself. A: "Do you think Howard would go out with Jeannie? She's totally gorgeous and has a great rack." B: "Eh, Howard's never been much of a breast man, though." Nah, I'm not an ass man or a leg man—I'm more of a breast man.

breast up

1. Of boats, to pull up alongside (abreast) another boat, as when traveling or mooring. We were enjoying the calm of the spring morning, when another boat breasted up and strangers began boarding our ship unannounced. I'm always wary when a foreign boat breasts up to us. Let's breast up to that ship up ahead. Perhaps those sailors can help us.

2. obsolete To cut the face of a plant, especially a hedge, on one side to reveal its stems. Please ask the gardener not to breast up the hedges like that. I know it's meant to promote growth, but I detest the look of the bare stems. If you don't want the landscaper to breast up the bushes, you better give him some explicit instructions. Why do you always breast up the bushes like that? No one wants to see stems, they want to see greenery!

hope springs eternal in the human breast

proverb People can always find a reason to hope, even in the bleakest situations. The phrase comes from Alexander Pope's poem Essay on Man. We don't know how this business venture will work out, but hope springs eternal in the human breast, right? A: "Hope springs eternal in the human breast, right? So maybe this is the house we finally get." B: "I wish I could be as optimistic as you." If the doctors think the diagnosis is grim, let them. For me, hope springs eternal in the human breast no matter what.

See also: breast, eternal, hope, human, spring

make a clean breast

To confess one's misdeeds or wrongdoings. I felt so guilty about cheating on the test that I had to make a clean breast of it to my teacher.

make a clean breast of (something)

To confess one's misdeeds or wrongdoings. I felt so guilty about cheating on the test that I had to make a clean breast of it to my teacher.

See also: breast, clean, make, of

make a clean breast of it

To confess one's misdeeds or wrongdoings. I felt so guilty about cheating on the test that I had to make a clean breast of it to my teacher.

See also: breast, clean, make, of

make a clean breast of something (to someone)

Fig. to admit something to someone. You should make a clean breast of the matter to someone. You'll feel better if you make a clean breast of the incident.

See also: breast, clean, make, of

keep abreast of

Stay or cause to stay up-to-date with, as in He's keeping abreast of the latest weather reports, or Please keep me abreast of any change in his condition. This term alludes to the nautical sense of abreast, which describes ships keeping up with each other. [Late 1600s]

make a clean breast of

Confess fully, as in Caught shoplifting, the girls decided to make a clean breast of it to their parents. This expression, first recorded in 1752, uses clean breast in the sense of baring of one's heart, the breast long considered the seat of private or secret feelings.

See also: breast, clean, make, of

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

beat your breast

beat your chest

COMMON If someone beats their breast or beats their chest, they publicly show regret or anger about something that has happened. At this month's meeting of the party's Central Committee, the party leader beat his breast with ritual self-criticism. Why don't you both stop beating your chests and do something productive? Note: You can describe the action of doing this as breast-beating or chest-beating. His breast-beating on behalf of the working classes always seemed false to me. Note: You usually use these expressions to suggest that the person is not being sincere but is trying to draw attention to himself or herself.

make a clean breast of something

If you make a clean breast of something, you tell the whole truth about it. `But what shall I tell my parents?' — `You'll have to make a clean breast of it, dear.' If you make a clean breast of your problems, creditors are much more likely to deal fairly with you.

See also: breast, clean, make, of, something

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

beat your breast

make a great show of sorrow or regret.

make a clean breast of something (or of it)

confess your mistakes or wrongdoings.

In former times, many people believed that the breast or chest was where a person's conscience was located. The breast is still used metaphorically to represent the seat of the emotions.

See also: breast, clean, make, of, something

make a clean ˈbreast of something

admit fully something that you have done wrong: He decided to make a clean breast of it and tell the police.

See also: breast, clean, make, of, something

make a clean breast of

To confess fully.

See also: breast, clean, make, of

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

make a clean breast of something, to

To make a full confession. The word breast here is a synonym for “heart,” long considered the seat of private emotion and, by extension, secrets. Shakespeare referred to cleansing one’s bosom in Macbeth (5.3). The current cliché dates from the early eighteenth century.