beat one's breast

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

beat one's breast (third-person singular simple present beats one's breast, present participle beating one's breast, simple past beat one's breast, past participle beaten one's breast or (colloquial) beat one's breast)

1. (figuratively) To ostentatiously display remorse, sorrow, or upset.

   Synonym: beat one's chest

• bare one's breast

• “beat your breast chest”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “beat one s breast”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “to beat one s breast”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “beat your breast” (US) / “beat your breast” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
• “beat one’s breast”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.