own up

phrasal verb

owned up; owning up; owns up

: to admit that one has done a usually bad thing : to confess to something

I know he broke the window, but so far, he hasn't owned up.

—usually + to

I'm waiting for him to own up to it.

Examples of own up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Sean 'Diddy' Combs owned up to violentassault of Cassie caught on video. —

Jay Stahl, USA TODAY, 21 May 2024 After that one, Busch promptly went over his radio and owned up to his mistake afterward. —

Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 20 May 2024 Hoda Kotb is owning up to needing some alone time from her girls. —

Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 16 May 2024 He is stunted enough to still be hung up on his first love in his thirties—and yet too shy to own up to his feelings. —

Hazlitt, 15 May 2024 But the real draw of military watches—or mils spec watches—is one that’s harder for many collectors to own up to. —

Oren Hartov, Robb Report, 14 May 2024 One person can own up to four-eighths, or 50%, of the home, or as little as 1/8 or 12.5% of the home. —

Jane Thier, Fortune, 6 May 2024 Balancing innovation with ethics But incumbent leaders in the industry are still wary about owning up to experiments with AI, and for good reason. —

Molly Flatt, Fortune Europe, 17 Apr. 2024 But in an on-camera interview, Brittany owned up to feeling a bit worried about her son. —

Dana Rose Falcone, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'own up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.