to bite one's tongue

1 6.1

Stop yourself from saying something you want to say because it would be rude

idiom

Informal

: morderse la lengua

You see, patience and fortitude and the ability to bite one's tongue will pay off in the end.
bite your tongue not to say

Examples

Mrs. Angell had to bite her tongue not to say that Katherine sounded just like her father, a killjoy.

Fiction book (1991)
I had to bite my tongue not to tell her about Sam.

The Dream Children (2015)
She had to bite her tongue at his remark.

Fiction book (1995)
I had to bite my tongue not to tell her about Sam.
When discussing politics, it can be hard to bite one's tongue.
She bit her tongue to avoid making an unkind comment.

Synonyms

to swallow

vsto bite one's tongue

Informal

5 7.0

To take back words you said

is narrower, used when silence avoids unwise or impolite speech

to shut one's mouth

vsto bite one's tongue

Informal

4 4.4

To stop talking to keep a secret or when told to be quiet

is more about chosen self-restraint to avoid unwise or impolite remarks

to hold one's tongue

vsto bite one's tongue

Informal

3 5.4

To stay silent to avoid saying something rude

is used when silence prevents unwise or impolite remarks

to watch one's mouth

vsto bite one's tongue

Informal

1 7.5

Be careful what you say to avoid offending someone

is about preventing a spoken unwise or impolite comment after wanting to speak

to bite one's lip

vsto bite one's tongue

Informal

6.1

Pressing your lips together to keep from laughing or saying something

is about stopping oneself from speaking unwise or impolite words

Antonyms

to express

∞ 2.3

To show ideas and feelings by words or actions

to speak out

220 3.4

To say your opinion or feelings openly even when it is difficult

How Restrained

to keep shtum

Slang

1 9.9

to bite one's tongue

Informal

1 6.1

to hold back

108 4.2

to hesitate

318 2.5

Surface Forms

bite one's tongue infinitive

biting one's tongue present participle

bites one's tongue third person singular

bit one's tongue past

bitten one's tongue past participle

Morphology

bite + one + tongue

The meaning 'to stop yourself from saying something' is metaphorically linked to the literal image of biting one’s tongue to suppress speech, so a B1 learner who knows 'bite' and 'tongue' could plausibly infer the intended restraint. However, it is a conventionalized idiom rather than a strictly compositional phrase, and learners may not automatically interpret the non-literal sense without exposure; cross-linguistic equivalents (e.g., Spanish 'morderse la lengua') make it more guessable but not fully transparent.

Etymology

Bite one's tongue comes from the image of someone actually biting their tongue to stop themselves from speaking, for example to hold back an angry reply. So it now means 'to stop yourself from saying something'.