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Glite Dictionary
🤐 To stay silent 📄 To make a mock-up
to dummy up

to dummy up

9.6
Refuse to speak or suddenly stop talking when asked
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈdʌmi ʌp/
  • Archaic
translation icon : callarse
  • When the police started asking questions, the suspect dummied up and wouldn't say a word.

Examples

  • Don't dummy up now, we need your input!

  • Whenever I mention the missing money, he just dummies up and stares at the floor.

  • She tried to get him to talk about the plan, but he dummied up every time.

  • He dummied up instead of answering the questions.

  • When the team asked about his strategy, he dummied up and refused to share any details.

  • The witness dummied up during the trial, leaving the jury without important information.

  • Whenever the topic of her last job comes up, she dummies up and changes the subject.

Synonyms

to shut up
vsto dummy up
  • Offensive
∞ 4.1

Tell someone to be quiet in a rude or angry way

is about refusing to speak when expected not a rude command to be quiet
to be quiet
vsto dummy up
231 1.0

To stop making noise or talking

is used when silence is a refusal to answer questions not just generic silence
to clam up
vsto dummy up
  • Informal
14 6.6

Stop talking suddenly because you are nervous or do not want to say anything

is used when silence occurs while someone is expected to give information
to close up
vsto dummy up
10 4.8

To stop talking and say nothing

is used specifically when silence blocks answering expected questions
to button up
vsto dummy up
  • Informal
3 7.1

To stop talking suddenly and not answer questions

is used when someone refuses to speak when expected to give information
to keep mum
vsto dummy up
  • Informal
3 7.5

Stay quiet about something private

is used when silence shows refusal under request for information not deliberate secrecy
to belt up
vsto dummy up
  • Offensive
9.2

To tell someone to stop talking and be quiet

is used when someone refuses to speak when expected not merely an informal rebuke

Antonyms

to disclose
234 4.1

To tell people information that was secret

to speak up
  • Informal
135 3.1

Give your opinion clearly and firmly even when it is difficult

How Talkative

to speak up
  • Informal
135 3.1
talk
947 1.0
to chat
  • Informal
269 1.0
to dummy up
  • Archaic
9.6
to clam up
  • Informal
14 6.6
to be quiet
231 1.0

Surface Forms

dummy up infinitive
dummied up past
dummied up past participle
dummying up present participle
dummies up third person singular

Morphology

dummy + up

If a learner knows 'dummy' in the sense of a mock-up and recognises the particle 'up' as signalling creation/assembly, the meaning 'create a mock-up' is largely compositional. However, the provided headword definition of 'dummy' (a person who does not speak) and the missing dictionary sense for 'up' make that connection uncertain for an average B1 learner, so prior exposure or knowledge of the 'dummy = mock-up' sense is usually required.

Etymology

Dummy up may come from pretending to be a dummy, a person who stays silent and gives no answers, so someone who 'dummies up' simply keeps quiet. That's why it means 'to refuse to speak' or suddenly stop talking.