Word.ws English Dictionary

put a civil tongue in one's mouth

put a civil tongue in one's mouth 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 put a civil tongue in one's mouth

third-person singular presentputs a civil tongue in one's mouth
present participleputting a civil tongue in one's mouth
past participleput a civil tongue in one's mouth
pastput a civil tongue in one's mouth

Questions about put a civil tongue in one's mouth

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

Words near put a civil tongue in one's mouth in the dictionary

  1. put a blanket over
  2. put a block on
  3. put a brave face on
  4. put a bug in someone's ear
  5. put a civil tongue in one's head
  6. put a civil tongue in one's mouth
  7. put a cork in it
  8. put a crimp in
  9. put a damper on
  10. put a dent in the universe
  11. put a finger to the wind

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: put a civil tongue in one's mouth (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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