keep one's mouth shut
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keep one's mouth shut (third-person singular simple present keeps one's mouth shut, present participle keeping one's mouth shut, simple past and past participle kept one's mouth shut)
- (idiomatic) To keep a secret; to refrain from speaking indiscreetly or carelessly; broadly, to refrain from speaking altogether.
- 1905, Upton Sinclair, chapter XXV, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 26 February 1906, →OCLC:
- He thought that he could get him a regular salary if he would come to Packingtown and do as he was told, and keep his mouth shut.
- 2004 November 23, Alan Cowell, “Charles Joins Fray Over Himself”, in New York Times, retrieved 25 Oct. 2008:
- Charles has failed to follow the example of his mother, the queen, who has heroically kept her mouth shut for more than 50 years.
- 2022 May 23, Emma Farge, “Russian diplomat in Switzerland says he resigns over Ukraine invasion”, in Reuters[1], archived from the original on 26 May 2022, Europe:
- He said he had raised his concerns about the invasion with senior embassy staff several times. "I was told to keep my mouth shut in order to avoid ramifications," he said.
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