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Synonyms

own up

Idioms  

  1. Confess, make a full admission, as in Come on, Tim, you'd better own up that you lost the car keys. This idiom uses the verb own in the sense of “acknowledge.” [Colloquial; mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Greenspan taught me the value of owning up to my mistakes.

From Barron's

"I'm glad they've apologised and owned up their failings," she said.

From BBC

Nobody would own up to it, especially not Buddy.

From Literature

DexCom has since owned up to its reliability issues, saying they originated with the subcut needle insertion mechanism rather than the sensor itself.

From Barron's

Officials with the city of Sebastopol owned up to the mistake, but said it was too late to reverse course on the Little Caesars project, according to a statement shared on the city website.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.