English Explanatory Dictionary

beat one's breast

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To ostentatiously display remorse, sorrow, or upset.

Word forms

beat one's breast beats one's breast beating one's breast beaten one's breast

Etymology

For the meaning development compare Proto-Slavic *plakati ultimately from *pleh₂k-, *pleh₂g- (“to beat”) (whence also Latin plangō (whence plangent, plain)).

Synonyms

beat one's chest

Related words

bare one's breast self-flagellation wear sackcloth and ashes weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth
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