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# confess

«confess» in Mova's school dictionary: **to admit that you did something wrong or something you…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (confess, confesses, confessed, confessing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To confess is to admit that you did something wrong or something you are ashamed of. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confess/#m1)

2) (church) To confess is to tell your sins to God or to a priest in order to be forgiven. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confess/#m2)

3) (law) To confess is to tell the police or a court that you did a crime. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confess/#m3)

4) "I must confess" can just mean "I admit", for a small thing: "I must confess I love cold pizza." [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confess/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In stories a character who confesses brings the truth into the open; the reader learns the mystery's answer. At home and school, confessing early usually makes things better than being caught. In church, Catholics confess to a priest; many Christians confess in silent or spoken prayer during the service. Phrases: confess to something, confess your sins, confess everything, I must confess.

### examples

- Lily confessed that she had taken the last chocolate. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confess/#x1)
- The thief confessed to the robbery. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confess/#x2)
- On Saturday, Nan went to confess her sins to the priest. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confess/#x3)
- I must confess, I forgot to feed the fish. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confess/#x4)
- He confessed to his teacher before anyone found out. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confess/#x5)
- Christians confess their sins and ask God for forgiveness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confess/#x6)
- She finally confessed that she was scared of the dark. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confess/#x7)
- He confessed what he felt for her. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confess/#x8)

### note

Regular verb: confessed (past). Noun confession. "Confess to + -ing/noun": "He confessed to breaking it." Spelling: double s. A person can confess under pressure to something they did not do, so a confession alone is not proof.

### In the corpora

- [Toad confesses: «I am not the simple washerwoman I seem to be!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/55-willows-ch8-part4-the-chase-and-the-tunnel/11/)
- [People who have confessed can slip again; forgiveness does not run out, but each wrong must be put right.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/339-borrowing-without-asking/22/)
- [People who have confessed can slip again; forgiveness does not run out, but each wrong must be put right.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/342-breaking-things-and-hiding-the-pieces/21/)
- [A week later the brother couldn't stand it and confessed.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/454-forgiving/17/)
- [Proverbs 28:13: "Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy."](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/14/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «confess» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confess/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.