fess
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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.
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| Noun | 1. |  fess - (heraldry) an ordinary consisting of a broad horizontal band across a shieldordinary - (heraldry) any of several conventional figures used on shields heraldry - the study and classification of armorial bearings and the tracing of genealogies |
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