Idiom
shut one's trap
Meaning
To stop talking; to be quiet.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Please shut your trap while I am working.”
“He kept complaining about the rules until his boss told him to shut his trap.”
“Despite the mounting tension in the room, he refused to shut his trap, continuing to provoke his rivals with every word he uttered.”
Examples
simple
“Please shut your trap while I am working.”
contextual
“He kept complaining about the rules until his boss told him to shut his trap.”
complex
“Despite the mounting tension in the room, he refused to shut his trap, continuing to provoke his rivals with every word he uttered.”
Origin
The expression derives from the mid-18th-century slang use of trap as a noun for the human mouth. The metaphor likens the closing of the mouth to the snapping shut of a mechanical device.
Key words
Related idioms
- Updated