Word.ws English Dictionary

loosen someone's lips

loosen someone's lips verb: to cause one to speak more freely; to cause one to discuss a subject that would not usually be discussed.

Verb

loosen someone's lips (third-person singular simple present loosens someone's lips, present participle loosening someone's lips, simple past and past participle loosened someone's lips)

  1. (idiomatic, informal) To cause one to speak more freely; to cause one to discuss a subject that would not usually be discussed.
    • A goodly number of these officers gathered nightly at the Crown and Anchor, where drink often loosened their lips. Was this where the spy learned the movements of ships?1994 August, Violet Hamilton, chapter 11, in Fabia's Choice, Zebra Books, page 144
    • "I'll ask the DA to go easy on you. Maybe lower your charge to a misdemeanor with a fine." The sheriff acted like he was doing her a big favor, but Cody knew that was all they could charge her with anyway. However, the fear of jail was loosening her lips.2008, Jeri Odell, chapter 14, in Until Tomorrow, Heartsong Presents, page 148

Synonyms of loosen someone's lips

Forms of loosen someone's lips

third-person singular presentloosens someone's lips
present participleloosening someone's lips
past participleloosened someone's lips
pastloosened someone's lips

Questions about loosen someone's lips

What does loosen someone's lips mean?
Loosen someone's lips means to cause one to speak more freely; to cause one to discuss a subject that would not usually be discussed.
What part of speech is loosen someone's lips?
Loosen someone's lips is a verb.
What is the past tense of loosen someone's lips?
The past tense of loosen someone's lips is loosened someone's lips.

Words near loosen someone's lips in the dictionary

  1. loosely-typed
  2. Loosemore
  3. Loosemores
  4. loosen
  5. loosen one's tongue
  6. loosen someone's lips
  7. loosen someone's tongue
  8. loosen the apron strings
  9. loosen the purse strings
  10. loosen up
  11. loosenable

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: loosen someone's lips (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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