clam up
Britishverb
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
However, he clammed up when Welker asked him to share other methods in which he might stay on.
From Salon
Another factor is “just having extreme social anxiety for a long, long time. People were fascinating to me, but also scary. I would kind of clam up around people because my brain would short-circuit.”
From Los Angeles Times
“What kind of helpful information would be in books about a wannabe Chosen One who clams up when it’s time to stop the bad guy?”
From Literature
“But as soon as we turned our microphones on and stuck them in their faces, they totally clammed up.”
From New York Times
“There was a dreadful silence, and they literally clammed up. It was incredibly unnerving for the White House and the Pentagon.”
From Washington Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
