Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A loud, self-conscious demonstration of emotion, especially of remorse.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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There's a remote possibility that the breast-beating is unnecessary.
Simon Welfare: A Tiger Killed by Hype Simon Welfare 2011
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Red-Eye abruptly ceased his breast-beating and tooth-grinding, and ran across the timber-jam to the shore.
CHAPTER XI 2010
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During President Bush's administration, three known terrorists were waterboarded, provoking much breast-beating.
The Contradictions of Harold Koh William McGurn 2011
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There's a remote possibility that the breast-beating is unnecessary.
Simon Welfare: A Tiger Killed by Hype Simon Welfare 2011
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Mr. Rybczynski, to his credit, deals matter-of-factly with environmental concerns, without the breast-beating such discussions often occasion.
The Garden City Blooms Again Francis Morrone 2010
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But I'd always thought that all this breast-beating over the "failure to fail" was largely metaphorical.
March 2008 2008
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It's not Chanukah, when the world's largest menorah is lit on 59th and Fifth Avenue, nor is it the solemn, breast-beating repentance of Yom Kippur which hangs over the city like bad breath.
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But I'd always thought that all this breast-beating over the "failure to fail" was largely metaphorical.
Failure to Fail 2008
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It's not Chanukah, when the world's largest menorah is lit on 59th and Fifth Avenue, nor is it the solemn, breast-beating repentance of Yom Kippur which hangs over the city like bad breath.
Angela Himsel: Shavuot: Like Honey and Milk Under Your Tongue 2010
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This one caused major hair-tearing and breast-beating amongst the status quo, as Team USA failed to even make their tourney final, then got to play in Birmingham in the opening round.
Eric Angevine: March Madness? Ivy League Can Send Two Teams to Big Dance 2010
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