shrift(n = noun.act) - the act of being shriven;
is a kind of confession
1. The act of shriving. [1913 Webster]
"In shrift and preaching is my diligence." [1913 Webster]
2. Confession made to a priest, and the absolution consequent upon it. Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
"Have you got leave to go to shrift to-day?" [1913 Webster]
"Therefore, my lord, address you to your shrift,
And be yourself; for you must die this instant." [1913 Webster]
shrift, n. archaic 1 confession to a priest.
2 confession and absolution.
Idiom:
short shrift
1 curt treatment.
2 archaic little time between condemnation and execution or punishment.
Etymology:
OE scrift (verbal noun) f. SHRIVE
N atonement, reparation, compromise, composition, compensation, quittance, quits, expiation, redemption, reclamation, conciliation, propitiation, indemnification, redress, amends, apology, amende honorable, satisfaction, peace offering, sin offering, burnt offering, scapegoat, sacrifice, penance, fasting, maceration, sackcloth and ashes, white sheet, shrift, flagellation, lustration, purgation, purgatory.
N disclosure, retection, unveiling, deterration, revealment, revelation, exposition, exposure, expose, whole truth, telltale, acknowledgment, avowal, confession, confessional, shrift, bursting of a bubble, denouement, tattletale, snitch, fink, stool pigeon, canary, disclosed, open, public, Int, out with it!, the murder is out, a light breaks in upon one, the scales fall from one's eyes, the eyes are opened.