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Glite Dictionary
to bottle away

to bottle away

8.6
To keep feelings inside instead of showing them
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈbɑːtəl əˈweɪ/
  • UK
translation icon : reprimir
  • Rather than talking about his grief, he chose to bottle away his sorrow for years.

Examples

  • She regrets having bottled away her pain instead of seeking support.

  • Don't bottle away your feelings!

  • During stressful times, many people bottle away their fears instead of sharing them.

  • She tends to bottle away her emotions.

  • Rather than confronting his anger, he tends to bottle away his emotions until they overwhelm him.

  • She often bottles away her memories of the past, avoiding any discussion that might bring them to light.

  • Many individuals bottle away their feelings, choosing to smile instead of dealing with their true emotions.

Synonyms

to hold back
vsto bottle away
108 4.2

Keep yourself from showing feelings or telling others

is specifically about hiding emotions instead of expressing or confronting them
to repress
vsto bottle away
75 6.6

Keep strong feelings or memories from coming into the mind

is more about a conscious decision to hide rather than unconscious blocking
to bottle up
vsto bottle away
24 5.6

To keep strong feelings inside instead of telling others

focuses on choosing to hide rather than face feelings or memories
to isolate
vsto bottle away
  • Specialized
23 7.6

To keep an experience apart from the feelings about it

focuses on active hiding of emotions rather than detaching experiences from feelings
to swallow
vsto bottle away
  • Informal
5 7.0

To take back words you said

is about an ongoing choice to keep emotions hidden instead of expressing them
to keep back
vsto bottle away
4 5.1

Stop yourself from showing an emotion like tears or laughter

applies when the motive is to hide feelings rather than discuss them
to sheathe emotions
vsto bottle away
  • Informal
7.9

To hide your feelings so others cannot see them

is broader, covering hiding or suppressing internally, not only outward concealment
to becloak one's feelings
vsto bottle away
  • Archaic
9.9

To hide your feelings so other people cannot see them

emphasizes internal suppression rather than merely outward concealment
to smother one's anger
vsto bottle away
  • Informal
7.5

To stop yourself from showing angry feelings

is more general, covering all emotions not only anger
to recloak oneself
vsto bottle away
  • Literature
9.9

To hide your feelings or change your look again after briefly showing them

is about continuous hiding rather than a repeated concealment after a reveal

Antonyms

to express
∞ 2.3

To show ideas and feelings by words or actions

to confront
359 4.4

Face a difficult problem or fear directly and bravely

How Suppressed

to repress
75 6.6
to suppress
88 5.8
to bottle away
  • UK
8.6
to hold back
108 4.2

Surface Forms

bottle away infinitive
bottled away past
bottled away past participle
bottling away present participle
bottles away third person singular

Morphology

bottle + away

The verb 'bottle' (put into a container / figuratively contain) combined with 'away' (remove or out of sight) gives a plausible inference of putting feelings out of sight, so a learner could partly deduce the sense. However, the suppression meaning is metaphorical and the more common collocation is 'bottle up', so the exact emotional‑suppression sense is not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure.

Etymology

The phrasal verb bottle away gives a clear image: you put a feeling into a bottle and push it away onto a shelf so no one sees it. That's why it means 'to keep feelings inside instead of showing them'.