Idiom
bite one's tongue
Meaning
To resist the urge to speak out, especially in order to avoid saying something inappropriate or likely to cause a dispute.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“I had to bite my tongue during the meeting.”
“She wanted to complain about the unfair rules, but she decided to bite her tongue to keep the peace.”
“Although he strongly disagreed with the manager's proposal, he chose to bite his tongue, recognizing that an open confrontation would only jeopardize his future career prospects.”
Examples
simple
“I had to bite my tongue during the meeting.”
contextual
“She wanted to complain about the unfair rules, but she decided to bite her tongue to keep the peace.”
complex
“Although he strongly disagreed with the manager's proposal, he chose to bite his tongue, recognizing that an open confrontation would only jeopardize his future career prospects.”
Key words
Related idioms
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