idiom · neutral
hold one's tongue
UK/həʊld wʌnz tʌŋ/US/hoʊld wʌnz tʌŋ/HOLD·one's·TONGUE
to refrain from speaking, especially to avoid causing trouble
Examples
“Although he disagreed, he held his tongue during the meeting.”
“I had to hold my tongue when my colleague made that unfair comment.”
“She wanted to reply but held her tongue to keep the peace.”
Band 8 sentence
“When criticism began, she held her tongue so that the discussion could remain constructive.”
Collocations
- hold one's tongue + during/at/in
- try to/forced to hold one's tongue
Word family
Common mistakes
He hold his tongue during argument.→He held his tongue during the argument.
She holding her tongue all night.→She held her tongue all night.
Say it for a higher band
5keep quiet→6not say anything→7+hold one's tongue
Synonyms
keep quiet
bite one's tongue
Easily confused
bite one's tongue
“I had to bite my tongue when he started complaining.”
Related words
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In Emotions
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