fess

fess ¹ also fesse  (fs)

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  (fs)

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.]

---

fess [fɛs]

vb

(intr; foll by up) Informal chiefly US to make a confession

[shortened from confess]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

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