hold tongue

hold tongue
hold (your) tongue old-fashioned to stop talking.

George had learned to accept these little insults. He held his tongue.


New idioms dictionary. 2014.

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  • hold one's tongue — {v. phr.} To be silent; keep still; not talk. May be considered rude. * /The teacher told Fred to hold his tongue./ * /If people would hold their tongues from unkind speech, fewer people would be hurt/ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • hold one's tongue — {v. phr.} To be silent; keep still; not talk. May be considered rude. * /The teacher told Fred to hold his tongue./ * /If people would hold their tongues from unkind speech, fewer people would be hurt/ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • tongue — ► NOUN 1) the fleshy muscular organ in the mouth, used for tasting, licking, swallowing, and (in humans) articulating speech. 2) the tongue of an ox or lamb as food. 3) a person s style or manner of speaking: a debater with a caustic tongue. 4) a …   English terms dictionary

  • Hold — Hold, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Held}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Holding}. {Holden}, p. p., is obs. in elegant writing, though still used in legal language.] [OE. haldan, D. houden, OHG. hoten, Icel. halda, Dan. holde, Sw. h[*a]lla, Goth. haldan to feed, tend… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • tongue — [tuŋ] n. [ME tunge < OE, akin to Ger zunge < IE base * dṇĝhū , tongue > L lingua (OL dingua)] 1. the movable muscular structure attached to the floor of the mouth in most vertebrates: it is an important organ in the ingestion of food,… …   English World dictionary

  • Tongue — Tongue, n. [OE. tunge, tonge, AS. tunge; akin to OFries. tunge, D. tong, OS. tunga, G. zunge, OHG. zunga, Icel. & Sw. tunga, Dan tunge, Goth. tugg[=o], OL. dingua, L. lingua. [root]243 Cf.{Language}, {Lingo}. ] [1913 Webster] 1. (Anat.) an organ… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Tongue bone — Tongue Tongue, n. [OE. tunge, tonge, AS. tunge; akin to OFries. tunge, D. tong, OS. tunga, G. zunge, OHG. zunga, Icel. & Sw. tunga, Dan tunge, Goth. tugg[=o], OL. dingua, L. lingua. [root]243 Cf.{Language}, {Lingo}. ] [1913 Webster] 1. (Anat.) an …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Tongue grafting — Tongue Tongue, n. [OE. tunge, tonge, AS. tunge; akin to OFries. tunge, D. tong, OS. tunga, G. zunge, OHG. zunga, Icel. & Sw. tunga, Dan tunge, Goth. tugg[=o], OL. dingua, L. lingua. [root]243 Cf.{Language}, {Lingo}. ] [1913 Webster] 1. (Anat.) an …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hold your tongue — If you hold your tongue, you keep silent even though you want to speak …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • hold — hold1 [hōld] vt. held, holding [ME holden < Anglian OE haldan (WS healdan), akin to Ger halten, Goth haldan, to tend sheep < IE base * kel , to drive, incite to action > Gr kelēs, swift horse, L celer, swift: prob. sense development:… …   English World dictionary

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