put a sock in it
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editPossibly from a crude means of muffling a record player's speaker.
Pronunciation
editAudio (General Australian): (file)
Verb
editput a sock in it (third-person singular simple present puts a sock in it, present participle putting a sock in it, simple past and past participle put a sock in it)
- (figuratively, informal, humorous, idiomatic) To stop talking; to be quiet; to shut one's mouth.
- He went on and on until I finally told him to put a sock in it.
- 1943 September and October, T. Lovatt Williams, “Some Reminiscences of the Footplate—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 271:
- I found out from his mate that he was a Longfellow fan, and the fireman complained bitterly that, not being poetically inclined himself, he often wished that Alfred would "put a sock in it."
Synonyms
edit- See also Thesaurus:stop talking
Translations
editTo stop talking; to be quiet; to shut one's mouth
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Further reading
edit- “put a sock in it”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.