keep shtum

Verb

keep shtum (third-person singular simple present keeps shtum, present participle keeping shtum, simple past and past participle kept shtum)

1. (colloquial, idiomatic, intransitive) To not tell anyone; especially, to keep silent about something that may be sensitive or secret.
   • If I tell you, you have to promise to keep shtum about it.
   • Charlie Blüthner is the shmatte king of Panama, and he wouldn't be where he is today if Benny hadn't kept shtum for him just like you did for me.1996, John le Carré, The Tailor of Panama, London: Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN 978-0-340-68478-8; republished New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-345-42043-5, page 104