English · Idiom Candidate

hold one's tongue

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To remain silent or refrain from speaking

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

giữ im lặng hoặc không nói

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: physically holding one's tongue

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

She had to hold her tongue during the meeting

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Equivalents & related

Near equivalent lặng thinh (verb) to keep quiet; to keep one's mouth shut; to hold one's tongue; to not say a word Tiếng Việt Near equivalent keep one's mouth shut Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review. English · via lặng thinh

Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.

Topics: Mouth & tongue

Common questions

What does “hold one's tongue” mean?

To remain silent or refrain from speaking Literally: physically holding one's tongue

Is “hold one's tongue” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

What is the closest equivalent?

“lặng thinh” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.