Word.ws English Dictionary

keep a civil tongue

keep a civil tongue is the alternative form of keep a civil tongue in one's head.

Meaning of keep a civil tongue in one's head

Verb

keep a civil tongue in one's head (third-person singular simple present keeps a civil tongue in one's head, present participle keeping a civil tongue in one's head, simple past and past participle kept a civil tongue in one's head)

  1. (idiomatic) To maintain a polite manner of speaking.
    • "I've had enough of that kind of talk. I don't intend to submit to your impudence. When you speak to me keep a civil tongue in your head."1875, Horatio Alger, chapter 20, in Herbert Carter's Legacy

Forms of keep a civil tongue

third-person singular presentkeeps a civil tongue
present participlekeeping a civil tongue
past participlekept a civil tongue
pastkept a civil tongue

Questions about keep a civil tongue

What is keep a civil tongue the alternative form of?
Keep a civil tongue is the alternative form of keep a civil tongue in one's head.

Words near keep a civil tongue in the dictionary

  1. keenos
  2. keens
  3. Keenum
  4. Keenums
  5. keep
  6. keep a civil tongue
  7. keep a civil tongue in one's head
  8. keep a civil tongue in one's mouth
  9. keep a close watch
  10. keep a cool head
  11. keep a dog and bark oneself

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: keep a civil tongue (page history and authors); keep a civil tongue in one's head (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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Cite this entry: “keep a civil tongue.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/keep_a_civil_tongue. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.