clam up
also shut up like a clam informal— phrasal verb with clam uk/klæm/us/klæm/verb -mm-
to become silent suddenly, usually because you are embarrassed or nervous, or do not want to talk about a particular subject:
He just clams up if you ask him about his childhood.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Falling silent and not speaking
- bite
- clam
- gob
- have nothing to say for yourself idiom
- hear
- hold
- hold your tongue idiom
- incommunicado
- keep (yourself) to yourself
- keep your mouth shut idiom
- let sth rest idiom
- lost
- pipe down
- radio silence
- rest
- save your breath idiom
- silence
- speak
- uncommunicative
- unsaid
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