C1idiomcommunicationIELTS-friendly
bite your tongue
USUK
to stop yourself from saying what you really think
Change 'your' to my, his and so on. 'Hold your tongue' is similar but sounds more old-fashioned.
In context
When my aunt criticised my job, I bit my tongue and smiled.
Sometimes you have to bite your tongue to keep the peace at work.
More idioms about communication
- a bone of contentiona subject that people keep arguing about
- a broken recordsomeone who keeps repeating the same thing in an annoying way
- a heart-to-heartan honest, private conversation about personal feelings
- a moot pointUK: a question still open to argument. US: a question that no longer matters in practice.
- a red herringa fact or idea that takes attention away from the real issue