Word.ws English Dictionary

bites one's lip

bites one's lip is the third-person singular simple present indicative of bite one's lip.

Meaning of bite one's lip

Verb

bite one's lip (third-person singular simple present bites one's lip, present participle biting one's lip, simple past bit one's lip, past participle bitten one's lip)

  1. (idiomatic) To forcibly prevent oneself from speaking, especially in order to avoid saying something inappropriate or likely to cause a dispute.
    • Buckingham bit his lip, for he saw the introduction of Lady Derby was likely to confuse and embroil every preparation which he had arranged for his defence; […]1822, [Walter Scott], chapter XIII, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume IV, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 304

Questions about bites one's lip

What is bites one's lip the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Bites one's lip is the third-person singular simple present indicative of bite one's lip.

Words near bites one's lip in the dictionary

  1. bites of the cherry
  2. bites of the reality sandwich
  3. bites off
  4. bites off more than one can chew
  5. bites on granite
  6. bites one's lip
  7. bites one's nails
  8. bites one's thumb
  9. bites one's tongue
  10. bites someone's hand off
  11. bites someone's head off

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bites one's lip (page history and authors); bite one's lip (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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