clam up
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- (idiomatic) shut up like a clam
Etymology[edit]
By analogy with a clam closing itself. Compare clamshell (“mouth”), clam (“mouth”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb[edit]
clam up (third-person singular simple present clams up, present participle clamming up, simple past and past participle clammed up)
- (intransitive, slang) 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 …
- (transitive, intransitive) To make or become clammy.
Synonyms[edit]
Antonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]
become silent
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