idiom · neutral
hold one's tongue
UK/həʊld wʌnz tʌŋ/US/hoʊld wʌnz tʌŋ/HOLD one's TONGUE
to keep quiet and not say what you think or want to say
Examples
“I held my tongue during the meeting because it wasn't the right moment to criticise.”
“She wanted to complain but decided to hold her tongue.”
“Sometimes it’s wiser to hold your tongue and listen.”
Band 8 sentence
“Although she strongly disagreed with the proposal, she held her tongue to avoid escalating the argument.”
Collocations
- hold your tongue in a meeting
- try to hold one's tongue
Word family
Common mistakes
hold my tongue→hold my tongue
I hold my tongue yesterday→I held my tongue yesterday
I held my tongue because I was shy, not because I didn't have an opinion→I held my tongue because I was shy, not because I didn't have an opinion
Say it for a higher band
5stay quiet→6keep quiet→7+hold one's tongue
Synonyms
bite your tongue
Easily confused
bite your tongue
“I really wanted to tell him off, but I had to bite my tongue.”
Related words
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In Communication
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