bite one's tongue en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
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(idiomatic, intransitive) To resist the urge to speak out, especially in order to avoid saying something inappropriate or likely to cause a dispute.
She wanted to go see a movie called Gigi, which I was not too thrilled about. But being a gentleman, I bit my tongue and said, “Okay.”
2011, Mike Pappas, Growing Up the Greek Way in the Big Apple, page 103:[…]my automatic tongue-biting mechanism kicked in just in time.
2020 June 23, John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 305:I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath / Scared to rock the boat and make a mess.
2013, Katy Perry, Roar:I swear I meant to mean the best when it ended / Even try to bite my tongue when you start shit / Now you're texting all my friends, asking questions / They never even liked you in the first place
2021 August 13, Gayle, Sara Davis, David Pittenger, “abcdefu”, in A Study of the Human Experience Volume One, performed by Gayle:Yet while elected officials bite their tongues, the Maga media ecosystem has descended into extraordinary and often crude blood-letting.
2026 March 22, David Smith, “‘Extremely ugly’: Maga media figures squabble among themselves over Trump’s Iran war”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| bitten one's tongue | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| biting one's tongue | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| bit one's tongue | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| bites one's tongue | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |
Relateds
cat got someone's tongue · hold one's tongue · guard one's tongue
Synonyms
Translations (13)
ru прикуси́ть язы́к (prevent oneself from uttering a word) · it mordersi la lingua (prevent oneself from uttering a word) · cmn 緘口不言 /缄口不言 (prevent oneself from uttering a word) · fi pitää turpa tukossa (prevent oneself from uttering a word) · ru придержа́ть язы́к (prevent oneself from uttering a word) · pl gryźć się w język (prevent oneself from uttering a word) · pl ugryźć się w język (prevent oneself from uttering a word) · mi whakatōngā (prevent oneself from uttering a word) · fi pitää suu kiinni (prevent oneself from uttering a word) · el δαγκώνω τη γλώσσα μου (prevent oneself from uttering a word) · de sich auf die Zunge beißen (prevent oneself from uttering a word) · no hvis du ikke har noe hyggelig å si, si ingen ting (prevent oneself from uttering a word) · fr tenir sa langue (prevent oneself from uttering a word)