verb phrase🎓 English idiom

zip your lip

to keep quiet

What it means

To stop talking or to keep quiet, often about a secret. It is an informal, sometimes blunt, way of telling someone to be silent.

Examples

  • Zip your lip about the surprise party; she mustn't find out.
  • I told him to zip his lip before he gave away the ending.
  • You'd better zip your lip if you don't want to get in trouble.
  • She zipped her lip the moment the teacher walked into the room.

Where it comes from

The expression draws on the image of a zip fastener closing the mouth shut, becoming popular in informal 20th-century English, especially in the United States.

Related idioms

#bite your tongue#spill the beans#let the cat out of the bag#give someone a piece of your mind

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