as in to hold back
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bottle (up)
Verb
-
Padma Lakshmi didn't hold back when talking about the way Vice President JD Vance adapted (or didn't) to his wife Usha Vance's culture.—
Mariyam Muhammad,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
1 Apr. 2026 -
The older consensus assumes Washington would still try to stabilize the situation—escort shipping, surge regional forces, send warnings, hold back from hitting the mainland.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
If someone pushes you to rush, keep your tone measured and propose a reasonable deadline that protects quality and keeps expectations aligned.—
Tarot.com,
Baltimore Sun,
30 Mar. 2026
-
The value of home teams that money can’t measure is another.—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Back to coal Asian governments are temporarily pivoting to coal as the Iran war chokes off natural gas supplies, undermining years of effort to curb the continent’s dependence on the dirtiest major fuel.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
29 Mar. 2026
-
There was also research, which Meta eventually halted, implying that people who curbed their use of Facebook became less depressed and anxious.—
Jonathan Vanian,
CNBC,
29 Mar. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Bottle (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bottle%20%28up%29. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
