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hold one's tongue

tongue
H h

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [tuhng]
    • /hoʊld wʌnz tʌŋ/
    • /həʊld wʌnz tʌŋ/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [tuhng]
    • /hoʊld wʌnz tʌŋ/

Definitions of hold one's tongue words

  • noun hold one's tongue Anatomy. the usually movable organ in the floor of the mouth in humans and most vertebrates, functioning in eating, in tasting, and, in humans, in speaking. 1
  • noun hold one's tongue Zoology. an analogous organ in invertebrate animals. 1
  • noun hold one's tongue the tongue of an animal, as an ox, beef, or sheep, used for food, often prepared by smoking or pickling. 1
  • noun hold one's tongue the human tongue as the organ of speech: No tongue must ever tell the secret. 1
  • noun hold one's tongue the faculty or power of speech: a sight no tongue can describe. 1
  • noun hold one's tongue speech or talk, especially mere glib or empty talk. 1
See all 39 definitions of hold one's tongue

Information block about the term

Origin of hold one's tongue

First appearance:

before 900
One of the 4% oldest English words
before 900; (noun) Middle English tunge, Old English; cognate with Dutch tong, German Zunge, Old Norse tunga, Gothic tuggo; akin to Latin lingua (OL dingua); (v.) Middle English tungen to scold, derivative of the noun

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Hold one's tongue

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Hold one's tongue

hold one's tongue popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 98% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

Synonyms for hold one's tongue

verb hold one's tongue

  • muzzle — the mouth, or end for discharge, of the barrel of a gun, pistol, etc.
  • mute — silent; refraining from speech or utterance.
  • suppress — to put an end to the activities of (a person, body of persons, etc.): to suppress the Communist and certain left-leaning parties.
  • censor — If someone in authority censors letters or the media, they officially examine them and cut out any information that is regarded as secret.
  • gag — to introduce usually comic interpolations into (a script, an actor's part, or the like) (usually followed by up).
All 40 Synonyms of hold one's tongue

Antonyms for hold one's tongue

verb hold one's tongue

  • release — to lease again.
  • permit — to allow to do something: Permit me to explain.
  • sanction — authoritative permission or approval, as for an action.
  • let go — to move or proceed, especially to or from something: They're going by bus.
  • allow — If someone is allowed to do something, it is all right for them to do it and they will not get into trouble.
All 12 Antonyms of hold one's tongue

See also

Matching words

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