bottle up

phrasal verb

bottled up; bottling up; bottles up

: to keep (a feeling or emotion) inside instead of expressing it : to hide (a feeling or emotion)

She's kept her feelings about the accident bottled up for too long.

I know he's angry, but he bottles it up inside instead of talking to someone about it.

Examples of bottle up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt and Brashard Smith were bottled up. —Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 14 Dec. 2025

The late-night mainstay struggled to bottle up O’Connor’s distinct whimsical charms (ones showcased in Emma and The Mastermind, for example) via skits that didn’t play to his strengths as a deft performer, and often didn’t know how to utilize him entirely. —Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 13 Dec. 2025

Zorblinx Camping Journal and RV Travel Log Book Capture every trail, campsite, and spontaneous adventure with the Zorblinx Camping Journal — a budget-friendly way to bottle up your best travel memories. —Chaise Sanders, Travel + Leisure, 1 Dec. 2025

Seattle’s stifling defense had bottled up the Rams’ quarterback, Matthew Stafford. —Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2025

Rhymes for bottle up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup