fess


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Idioms, Wikipedia.
click for a larger image
fess1

fess 1

also fesse  (fĕs)
n. Heraldry
A wide horizontal band forming the middle section of an escutcheon.

[Middle English fesse, from Old French, from Latin fascia, band.]

fess 2

 (fĕs)
intr.v. fessed, fess·ing, fess·es Informal
To admit to something; confess, often used with up: "won't fess up to being even vaguely liberal" (Jonathan Alter).

[Short for confess.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fess

(fɛs)
vb
informal chiefly (foll by: up) US to make a confession
[C19: shortened from confess]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fess1

or fesse

(fɛs)

n.
a wide horizontal band across the center of a heraldic field.
[1350–1400; Middle English fesse < Anglo-French « Latin fascia fascia]

fess2

(fɛs)

v.t., v.i.
Informal. fess up, to confess or concede.
[1830–40; aph. variant of confess]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.fess - (heraldry) an ordinary consisting of a broad horizontal band across a shieldfess - (heraldry) an ordinary consisting of a broad horizontal band across a shield
ordinary - (heraldry) any of several conventional figures used on shields
heraldry - the study and classification of armorial bearings and the tracing of genealogies
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
"A fess -- a fess is -- YOU don't need to know what a fess is.
Y'll be fess enough, my poppet, when th'st know!" (Mrs Durbeyfield habitually spoke the dialect; her daughter, who had passed the Sixth Standard in the National School under a London-trained mistress, spoke two languages: the dialect at home, more or less; ordinary English abroad and to persons of quality.)
"Why, Missis said I must 'fess; and I couldn't think of nothin' else to 'fess," said Topsy, rubbing her eyes.
"You know you have--you can't hide anything, so up and fess, or I won't tell," cried Laurie.
"Not a word more expect that you were rather doubtful how I'd take it, and so wanted to 'fess' yourself and get round me as you always try to do, though you don't often succeed.
"Argent," Alleyne answered, "a fess azure charged with three lozenges dividing three mullets sable.
It takes some time to tell it, but it happened in a jiffy, in fess In a tenth of a second.
'Arms: Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable.
They are the DOUBLE -- ye have con- fessed it yourself."
He promised to stay with them, at least until they could deter- mine what to do, or until the missing man arrived, and pro- fessed to be an expert shot with the revolver--a weapon strange to him--in order to give them confidence.
The data in the fess' blockchain process data in fragments that too in the sidechain.