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breast-beating

American  
[brest-bee-ting] / ˈbrɛstˌbi tɪŋ /

noun

  1. a loud and demonstrative display of grief, remorse, or the like.

    The authorities indulged in a great deal of breast-beating about traffic accidents but failed to pass new driving laws.

adjective

  1. characterized by or involving breast-beating.

Other Word Forms

  • breast-beater noun

Etymology

Origin of breast-beating

First recorded in 1950–55

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.