to suddenly stop talking or explaining something, because you are embarrassed, unhappy, or want to keep a secret
But she clams up when anyone tries to ask her about it.
He clammed up when I asked him who else was involved.
If there were more than two people in a room he'd clam up.
Law firms, in my experience, are always quick to clam up when things go wrong.
Usually anyone halfway close to the royal family clams up when the press asks anything about them.
We can't give them the chance to clam up and become too British again.
When we try to talk to him about it he clams up and gets angry.
clams up
clamming up
clammed up
There is no origin for this phrasal verb
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