1. (

• profess

) practice as a profession, teach, or claim to be knowledgeable about; "She professes organic chemistry" ;

2. (

• profess ,

) confess one's faith in, or allegiance to; "The terrorists professed allegiance to their country"; "he professes to be a Communist" ;

3. (

• concede ,
• profess ,
• confess ,

) admit (to a wrongdoing); "She confessed that she had taken the money" ;

4. (

• profess ,

) state freely; "The teacher professed that he was not generous when it came to giving good grades" ;

5. (

• profess ,

) receive into a religious order or congregation ;

6. (

• profess ,

) take vows, as in religious order; "she professed herself as a nun" ;

7. (

• profess ,
• pretend ,

) state insincerely; "He professed innocence but later admitted his guilt"; "She pretended not to have known the suicide bomber"; "She pretends to be an expert on wine" ;