bottle up

British  

verb

1. to restrain (powerful emotion)

2. to keep (an army or other force) contained or trapped

   the French fleet was bottled up in Le Havre

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bottle up Idioms  

1. Repress, contain, hold back; also, confine or trap. For example, The psychiatrist said Eve had been bottling up her anger for years, or The accident bottled up traffic for miles. This idiom likens other kinds of restraint to liquid being contained in a bottle. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bottle up

Capital controls bottle up household nest eggs within the country’s borders.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

So the establishment decided to bottle up the flavours of its "fermentation lab" and "test kitchen".

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2025

We lost and were gutted, but we had to park it and bottle up that feeling of disappointment and use it as added fuel.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2025

But the Bruins find a way better than anyone else to bottle up the Panthers.

From Seattle Times ● May 5, 2024

I shall go for her, and you’ve only got to bottle up your rapture, and keep Beth quiet till that blessed lady gets here.”

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

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Related Words

• repress
• suppress

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