clam up

English

Etymology

By analogy with a clam closing itself.

Verb

clam up (third-person singular simple present clams up, present participle clamming up, simple past and past participle clammed up)

1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To become silent; to stop talking, to shut up.
   • 1986, Paul Chadwick, Concrete: Under the Desert Stars, Dark Horse Books

     Maybe he … or she … was a witness who refused to clam up … a whistle blower …

Synonyms

• shut up

Antonyms

• talk

Translations

become silent

• Dutch: zwijgen (nl), zijn (nl) mond (nl) houden (nl)

• Russian: замолкать (ru) (zamolkát’) impf., замолчать (ru) (zamolčát’) pf.