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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