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bottle up
bottle something up
1. Lit. to put some sort of liquid into bottles. She bottled her homemade chili sauce up and put the bottles in a box. She bottled up a lot of the stuff.
2. Fig. to constrict something as if it were put in a bottle. The patrol boats bottled the other boats up at the locks on the river. The police bottled up the traffic while they searched the cars for the thieves.
3. and bottle something up (inside (someone)) Fig. to hold one's feelings within; to keep from saying something that one feels strongly about. Let's talk about it, John. You shouldn't bottle it up. Don't bottle up your problems. It's better to talk them out. Don't bottle it up inside you. Don't bottle up all your feelings.
bottle up something
also bottle something up1. to not express something She bottled up her emotions throughout the tournament. The more you bottle that anger up, the more likely it is that it will explode.
2. to keep something from making progress The French navy had bottled up the British navy. Lawmakers in key positions can bottle things up for months.
bottle up
Repress, contain, hold back; also, confine or trap. For example, The psychiatrist said Eve had been bottling up her anger for years, or The accident bottled up traffic for miles. This idiom likens other kinds of restraint to liquid being contained in a bottle. [Mid-1800s]
bottle up
v.1. To store something by putting it in a bottle or bottles: We will need an hour to bottle up the apple juice. After the wine is fully fermented, we bottle it up and let it age.
2. To contain or suppress something, especially emotions, and not express or reveal them: If you keep bottling up what you're thinking, we'll never be able to help you. I was angry, but I bottled my feelings up.