to clam
- verb
- /klæm/
- When someone challenges my ideas, I clam up.
- just clam up
- clam up, he said
- the more clam up
Examples
-
Dewey, realizing he's said too much, clams up.
Fiction book (1996) -
Oh, come on, don't clam up on me now.
-
I thought you might clam up.
-
All you can do is clam up.
-
And then I just got so scared around guys, I would just like clam up.
-
Men seem more likely to clam up.
Blog text (9) -
She looks like she's about to say something, then just... clams up.
-
She would start to say something to Viola, and then she would stop all of a sudden, or in Viola's words, "clam up."
Fiction book (2002) -
Either they will clam up and get offended or they'll become overly boisterous.
-
Whenever she feels anxious, she tends to clam up and avoid talking to anyone.
Synonyms
To close something so it is not open
To shut something so it is not open
To close something tightly to stop air or water getting in
To close a door or window quickly and hard so it makes a loud noise
Stop talking suddenly because you are nervous or do not want to say anything
Close something tightly so nothing can get in or out
Antonyms
Phrasal Verbs
- Informal
Stop talking suddenly because you are nervous or do not want to say anything
Compounds
- US
A cold creamy mixture of chopped clams and cream cheese eaten with crackers or chips
A thick creamy soup from New England made with clams, potatoes, onions, and milk
- Indian
A shellfish with red blood that lives in muddy seashores and is eaten in parts of Asia
- US
A large edible clam from the Atlantic coast whose shell was once used as money by Native Americans
How Closed
Surface Forms
Etymology
Clam meaning to close tightly or suddenly comes from the way a clam shuts its shell, and that image explains the phrase 'clam up' when someone quickly becomes silent. So to clam shut is to close like a shell and to clam up is to stop talking.