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

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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.
Vanessa Nygaard recognized that rare bit of frustration, bottled up within. — Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 13 Feb. 2025 These fragrances aren’t just scents—they’re full-on personalities, moods, and memories bottled up into the prettiest packaging imaginable. — Angela Trakoshis, Allure, 13 Dec. 2024 Just as pressure may need to be released, not bottled up. — arkansasonline.com, 1 Mar. 2025 Instead of a futile effort to keep this genie bottled up, the government and the industry should be preparing our society for the sweeping changes that are soon to come. — Zeynep Tufekci, The Mercury News, 12 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for bottle up

Rhymes for bottle up

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Browse Nearby Words

bottle tree
bottle up
bottling
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Cite this Entry

“Bottle up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bottle%20up. Accessed 28 Mar. 2025.

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