"take the fifth" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "A reference to the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states, among other things, that it may not be required of one to testify against oneself.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "takes the fifth",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taking the fifth",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "took the fifth",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taken the fifth",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "take<,,took,taken> the fifth"
      },
      "expansion": "take the fifth (third-person singular simple present takes the fifth, present participle taking the fifth, simple past took the fifth, past participle taken the fifth)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Five",
          "orig": "en:Five",
          "parents": [
            "Numbers",
            "All topics",
            "Terms by semantic function",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Law",
          "orig": "en:Law",
          "parents": [
            "Justice",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "If you ask me who ate the last of the ice cream, I will simply take the fifth.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 July 8, Barton Gellman, quoting Michael Flynn, “What Happened to Michael Flynn?”, in The Atlantic",
          "text": "“Do you believe the violence on January 6 was justified morally?” she asked. Flynn squinted, truculent. “Take the Fifth,” he said.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To decline to comment, especially on grounds that it might be incriminating."
      ],
      "id": "en-take_the_fifth-en-verb-jN0PWGFL",
      "links": [
        [
          "decline",
          "decline"
        ],
        [
          "comment",
          "comment"
        ],
        [
          "incriminating",
          "incriminating"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To decline to comment, especially on grounds that it might be incriminating."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "plead the Fifth"
        },
        {
          "word": "no comment"
        },
        {
          "word": "take the Fifth"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-take the fifth.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/81/En-au-take_the_fifth.ogg/En-au-take_the_fifth.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/En-au-take_the_fifth.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "take the fifth"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "A reference to the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states, among other things, that it may not be required of one to testify against oneself.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "takes the fifth",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taking the fifth",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "took the fifth",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taken the fifth",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "take<,,took,taken> the fifth"
      },
      "expansion": "take the fifth (third-person singular simple present takes the fifth, present participle taking the fifth, simple past took the fifth, past participle taken the fifth)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English verbs",
        "en:Five",
        "en:Law"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "If you ask me who ate the last of the ice cream, I will simply take the fifth.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 July 8, Barton Gellman, quoting Michael Flynn, “What Happened to Michael Flynn?”, in The Atlantic",
          "text": "“Do you believe the violence on January 6 was justified morally?” she asked. Flynn squinted, truculent. “Take the Fifth,” he said.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To decline to comment, especially on grounds that it might be incriminating."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "decline",
          "decline"
        ],
        [
          "comment",
          "comment"
        ],
        [
          "incriminating",
          "incriminating"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To decline to comment, especially on grounds that it might be incriminating."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-take the fifth.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/81/En-au-take_the_fifth.ogg/En-au-take_the_fifth.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/En-au-take_the_fifth.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "plead the Fifth"
    },
    {
      "word": "no comment"
    },
    {
      "word": "take the Fifth"
    }
  ],
  "word": "take the fifth"
}