own up (to something)
To admit or confess (to doing something). Everyone knows you're responsible, so it will look better if you just own up. Tom finally owned up to eating my burrito.
own up (to something)
to admit something; to confess to something. I know you broke the window. Come on and own up to it.
own up to someone
to confess or admit something to someone. Finally, he owned up to his mother about breaking the vase. We had hoped he would own up to us sooner.
own up
Confess, make a full admission, as in Come on, Tim, you'd better own up that you lost the car keys. This idiom uses the verb own in the sense of "acknowledge." [Colloquial; mid-1800s]
own up
v. To confess to something; admit something: If the person who stole the erasers doesn't own up, recess will be canceled. The thief owned up to the crime.