From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishconfessioncon‧fes‧sion /kənˈfeʃən/ ●●○ noun 1 [countable]SCADMIT a statement that you have done something wrong, illegal, or embarrassing, especially a formal statement Sanchez’s confession was read out to the court.confession of a confession of adultery At 3 a.m. Higgins broke down and made a full confession. I have a confession – I like Britney Spears’ music.2 [countable, uncountable]RRCADMIT when you tell a priest or God about the bad things that you have done You must go to confession. a priest who hears confession3 [countable] formalRR a statement of what your religious beliefs areconfession of a confession of faithCOLLOCATIONSverbsmake a confessionThe police interviewed him for five hours before he finally made a confession.get/obtain a confessionThreats must not be used in order to obtain confessions.extract a confession (=get one with difficulty, or by using violence)Torture was sometimes used to extract confessions.sign a confessionHe had signed a confession in front of witnesses.retract a confession (=say that a confession you made was not true)Though he had confessed to the police, Gerrards later retracted his confession.adjectivesa full confession (=in which you admit everything)The killer had made a full confession to the authorities.a written confessionA police interview may lead to a written confession.a false confession (=one that is not true)The officers were accused of extracting false confessions from some of the prisoners.phraseshave a confession (to make) (=used humorously when you want to admit to doing something)I have a confession to make – I’ve eaten all the chocolates.
Examples from the Corpus
confession• In a confession made to police shortly after his arrest, Davis said he had killed the victim with a kitchen knife.• All this bears closely on Stavrogin and his so-called confession.• Hand on the arm plus emotional confession.• By making a full confession, Reeves hoped he would be more kindly treated by the authorities.• But they can not perform Catholic sacramental duties, such as hearing confession, offering Communion or giving last rites.• He was determined to rid the world of sin, partaking in confession for up to 16 hours a day.• In both, women gathered to make confessions about their lives and find support from other women for changes they were making.• Sergeant Thompson wrote down Smith's confession and asked him to sign it.• The transcripts depict Davis weeping with remorse at several points during the confession.• It did not follow from this that the confession should therefore be excluded, however.have a confession• I have a confession to make.go to confession• Some, or all, of his troubles could have been avoided if he had gone to confession in City Hall.• He doubted whether half as many went to confession more than once or twice a year.• Among his Anglican friends, Coghill probably went to confession.• During a hunger strike she asked to go to Confession.• I wanted to go to confession.confession of faith• Such a confession of faith requires no external verification in the same way as statements of fact. 