clam up
English
Alternative forms
- (idiomatic) shut up like a clam
Etymology
By analogy with a clam closing itself. Compare clamshell (“mouth”), clam (“mouth”).
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
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 …
- 1986, Paul Chadwick, Concrete: Under the Desert Stars, Dark Horse Books
- (transitive, intransitive) To make or become clammy.
Synonyms
- shut up
Antonyms
- talk
Translations
become silent
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