confess

views updated May 14 2018

con·fess / kənˈfes/ • v. [tr.] admit or state that one has committed a crime or is at fault in some way: he confessed that he had attacked the old man [intr.] he wants to confess to Caroline's murder. ∎  admit or acknowledge something reluctantly, typically because one feels slightly ashamed or embarrassed: I must confess that I was slightly surprised [intr.] he confessed to a lifelong passion for food. ∎  declare (one's religious faith): 150 people confessed faith in Christ. ∎  declare one's sins formally to a priest: I could not confess all my sins | [intr.] he gave himself up after confessing to a priest. ∎  (of a priest) hear the confession of (someone) in such a way: St. Ambrose would weep bitter tears when confessing a sinner.

confess

views updated May 18 2018

confess own to, acknowledge, esp. guiltily; hear the confession of, shrive. XIV. —(O)F. confesser :- Rom. *confessāre, f. L. confessus, pp. of confitērī acknowledge, f. CON- +fatērī declare, avow, rel. to fārī speak, fābula FABLE.
So confession acknowledgement (of guilt) XIV; matter confessed XV; formulary of belief XVI. confessional place for hearing confessions. XVIII. — F. confessional- It. confessionale — medL., sb. use of n. sg. of adj. confessor (eccl.) one who avows his religion in the face of danger but does not suffer martyrdom XII; (gen.) one who makes confession (of belief, guilt, etc.) XIII; (eccl.) one who hears confessions XIV. — AN. confessur, OF. confessour (mod. -eur) — ecclL. confessor; see -OR 1.

Confess

views updated May 17 2018

Confess ★★ 2005 (R)

Former hacker Terell (Byrd) is ticked off when the surveillance technology he developed is stolen, so he takes compromising footage (viaspy-cams) of those who slighted him and puts it on the Internet. Then Terrell decides to go big-time and he and accom plice Olivia (Larter) start targeting CEOs, politicians, and others of the power elite. He becomes a front-page anti-hero but the feds are calling Terrell a cyber-terrorist and want him brought to justice. Terrell's got bigger problems when imitators take his idea to a violent extreme. 87m/C DVD . Eugene Byrd, Ali Larter, William Sadler, Melissa Leo, Glenn Fitzgerald; D: Stefan C. Schaefer; W: Stefan C. Schaefer; C: Leland Krane; M: Scott Jacoby. VIDEO

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