"clam up" meaning in All languages combined

See clam up on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Audio: en-au-clam up.ogg Forms: clams up [present, singular, third-person], clamming up [participle, present], clammed up [participle, past], clammed up [past]
Etymology: By analogy with a clam closing itself. Compare clamshell (“mouth”), clam (“mouth”). Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} clam up (third-person singular simple present clams up, present participle clamming up, simple past and past participle clammed up)
  1. (intransitive, informal) To become silent; to stop talking. Tags: informal, intransitive Categories (topical): Talking Synonyms: shut up, be quiet Translations (become silent): tevel (Breton), zwijgen (Dutch), zijn mond houden (Dutch), silenti (Esperanto), hiljetä (Finnish), la fermer [colloquial] (French), fermer son clapet [colloquial] (French), fermer son claque-merde [vulgar] (French), la boucler [informal] (French), schweigen (German), σωπαίνω (sopaíno) (Greek), tacere (Italian), 黙ってしまう (damatte shimau) (alt: だまってしまう) (Japanese), үндемеу (ündemeu) (Kazakh), zwiege (Limburgish), uɓuriha (Maore Comorian), whakangūngū (Maori), jaskkodit (Northern Sami), jávohuvvat (Northern Sami), fechar-se (Portuguese), замолка́ть (zamolkátʹ) [imperfective] (Russian), замолча́ть (zamolčátʹ) [perfective] (Russian), callarse (Spanish), tiga (Swedish), yánunu (Záparo)
    Sense id: en-clam_up-en-verb-CuVl7C2G Disambiguation of Talking: 95 5 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English phrasal verbs formed with "up", Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Breton translations, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with Esperanto translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Greek translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Kazakh translations, Terms with Limburgish translations, Terms with Maore Comorian translations, Terms with Maori translations, Terms with Northern Sami translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Swedish translations, Terms with Záparo translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 91 9 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "up": 87 13 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 84 16 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 89 11 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 93 7 Disambiguation of Terms with Breton translations: 88 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 83 17 Disambiguation of Terms with Esperanto translations: 90 10 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 88 12 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 83 17 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 85 15 Disambiguation of Terms with Greek translations: 80 20 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 88 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 88 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Kazakh translations: 88 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Limburgish translations: 88 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Maore Comorian translations: 91 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Maori translations: 88 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Northern Sami translations: 98 2 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 88 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 88 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 88 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 88 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Záparo translations: 87 13 Disambiguation of 'become silent': 82 18
  2. (transitive, intransitive) To make or become clammy. Tags: intransitive, transitive Synonyms: shut up like a clam [idiomatic]
    Sense id: en-clam_up-en-verb-Y2O5xecX

Inflected forms

{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "talk"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "By analogy with a clam closing itself. Compare clamshell (“mouth”), clam (“mouth”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "clams up",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "clamming up",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "clammed up",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "clammed up",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "clam up (third-person singular simple present clams up, present participle clamming up, simple past and past participle clammed up)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "91 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "87 13",
          "kind": "other",
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "84 16",
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          "_dis": "89 11",
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          "_dis": "93 7",
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          "_dis": "88 12",
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          "_dis": "83 17",
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          "_dis": "90 10",
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        {
          "_dis": "88 12",
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          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "83 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "85 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "80 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Greek translations",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "88 12",
          "kind": "other",
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "88 12",
          "kind": "other",
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "88 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Kazakh translations",
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        {
          "_dis": "88 12",
          "kind": "other",
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        {
          "_dis": "91 9",
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        {
          "_dis": "88 12",
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "98 2",
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          "parents": [],
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        {
          "_dis": "88 12",
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        {
          "_dis": "88 12",
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          "_dis": "87 13",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "95 5",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Talking",
          "orig": "en:Talking",
          "parents": [
            "Human behaviour",
            "Language",
            "Human",
            "Communication",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1986, Paul Chadwick, Concrete: Under the Desert Stars, Dark Horse Books:",
          "text": "Maybe he … or she … was a witness who refused to clam up … a whistle blower …",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1993, “Matt Foley: A Scary Story on Halloween”, in Saturday Night Live, season 19, spoken by Matt Foley (Chris Farley):",
          "text": "Teenagers' father. Alright, Matt, I think you've made your point.\nMatt Foley: Dad, I sincerely wish you'd do everyone a great service, and clam up!",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To become silent; to stop talking."
      ],
      "id": "en-clam_up-en-verb-CuVl7C2G",
      "links": [
        [
          "silent",
          "silent"
        ],
        [
          "stop",
          "stop"
        ],
        [
          "talking",
          "talking"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, informal) To become silent; to stop talking."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "shut up"
        },
        {
          "word": "be quiet"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "br",
          "lang": "Breton",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "tevel"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "zwijgen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "zijn mond houden"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "silenti"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "hiljetä"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "tags": [
            "colloquial"
          ],
          "word": "la fermer"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "tags": [
            "colloquial"
          ],
          "word": "fermer son clapet"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "tags": [
            "vulgar"
          ],
          "word": "fermer son claque-merde"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "tags": [
            "informal"
          ],
          "word": "la boucler"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "schweigen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "sopaíno",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "σωπαίνω"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "tacere"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "alt": "だまってしまう",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "damatte shimau",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "黙ってしまう"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "kk",
          "lang": "Kazakh",
          "roman": "ündemeu",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "үндемеу"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "li",
          "lang": "Limburgish",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "zwiege"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "swb",
          "lang": "Maore Comorian",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "uɓuriha"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "whakangūngū"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "se",
          "lang": "Northern Sami",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "jaskkodit"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "se",
          "lang": "Northern Sami",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "jávohuvvat"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "fechar-se"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "zamolkátʹ",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "замолка́ть"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "zamolčátʹ",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "замолча́ть"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "callarse"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "tiga"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 18",
          "code": "zro",
          "lang": "Záparo",
          "sense": "become silent",
          "word": "yánunu"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "To make or become clammy."
      ],
      "id": "en-clam_up-en-verb-Y2O5xecX",
      "links": [
        [
          "transitive",
          "transitive"
        ],
        [
          "intransitive",
          "intransitive"
        ],
        [
          "clammy",
          "clammy"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, intransitive) To make or become clammy."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "shut up like a clam"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-clam up.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8e/En-au-clam_up.ogg/En-au-clam_up.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/En-au-clam_up.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "clam up"
}
{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "talk"
    }
  ],
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs formed with \"up\"",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Breton translations",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with Esperanto translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Greek translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Kazakh translations",
    "Terms with Limburgish translations",
    "Terms with Maore Comorian translations",
    "Terms with Maori translations",
    "Terms with Northern Sami translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Záparo translations",
    "en:Talking"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "By analogy with a clam closing itself. Compare clamshell (“mouth”), clam (“mouth”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "clams up",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "clamming up",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "clammed up",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "clammed up",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "clam up (third-person singular simple present clams up, present participle clamming up, simple past and past participle clammed up)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English informal terms",
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1986, Paul Chadwick, Concrete: Under the Desert Stars, Dark Horse Books:",
          "text": "Maybe he … or she … was a witness who refused to clam up … a whistle blower …",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1993, “Matt Foley: A Scary Story on Halloween”, in Saturday Night Live, season 19, spoken by Matt Foley (Chris Farley):",
          "text": "Teenagers' father. Alright, Matt, I think you've made your point.\nMatt Foley: Dad, I sincerely wish you'd do everyone a great service, and clam up!",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To become silent; to stop talking."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "silent",
          "silent"
        ],
        [
          "stop",
          "stop"
        ],
        [
          "talking",
          "talking"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, informal) To become silent; to stop talking."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "shut up"
        },
        {
          "word": "be quiet"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To make or become clammy."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "transitive",
          "transitive"
        ],
        [
          "intransitive",
          "intransitive"
        ],
        [
          "clammy",
          "clammy"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, intransitive) To make or become clammy."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-clam up.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8e/En-au-clam_up.ogg/En-au-clam_up.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/En-au-clam_up.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "word": "shut up like a clam"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "br",
      "lang": "Breton",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "tevel"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "zwijgen"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "zijn mond houden"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "silenti"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "hiljetä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "word": "la fermer"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "word": "fermer son clapet"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "tags": [
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "word": "fermer son claque-merde"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ],
      "word": "la boucler"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "schweigen"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "sopaíno",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "σωπαίνω"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "tacere"
    },
    {
      "alt": "だまってしまう",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "damatte shimau",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "黙ってしまう"
    },
    {
      "code": "kk",
      "lang": "Kazakh",
      "roman": "ündemeu",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "үндемеу"
    },
    {
      "code": "li",
      "lang": "Limburgish",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "zwiege"
    },
    {
      "code": "swb",
      "lang": "Maore Comorian",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "uɓuriha"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "whakangūngū"
    },
    {
      "code": "se",
      "lang": "Northern Sami",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "jaskkodit"
    },
    {
      "code": "se",
      "lang": "Northern Sami",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "jávohuvvat"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "fechar-se"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "zamolkátʹ",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "замолка́ть"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "zamolčátʹ",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "замолча́ть"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "callarse"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "tiga"
    },
    {
      "code": "zro",
      "lang": "Záparo",
      "sense": "become silent",
      "word": "yánunu"
    }
  ],
  "word": "clam up"
}

Download raw JSONL data for clam up meaning in All languages combined (5.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.