not breathe a word

Idioms  

1. Not reveal a secret, keep concealed, as in You must promise not to breathe a word of what I'm about to tell you. This phrase relies on the verb breathe as meaning “to utter,” a usage dating from the late 1500s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

not breathe a word

Limit visits to holidays and weekends, bounce the grandkids on his knee, not breathe a word about business or affairs of state.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 22, 2016

Molly begs Sam to leave that out of the report and not breathe a word of it to anyone, at least until she figures out what happened while she was supposedly alone in space.

From Washington Post

It is not good, my compatriots, that you should not breathe a word of it to anybody, not even to your own soul for fear of having to judge yourself.

From Time Magazine Archive

But old Trainard did not breathe a word; and the husband and wife tired their lungs in vain.

From The Confessions of Arsène Lupin by Maurice Leblanc

Sir Tom ran away morally from this suggestion as if he had been the veriest coward; he could not breathe a word of it in Lucy's ear.

From Sir Tom by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant