To keep feelings or emotions tightly controlled and hidden, rather than expressing them; also, to trap someone or something so they cannot escape.
To stop yourself from showing how you feel, and keep all your emotions locked inside yourself.
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
To suppress emotions or feelings, keeping them hidden inside instead of expressing them.
"She had been bottling up her grief for months before she finally broke down."
Don't bottle up your feelings.
— Widely attributed to mental health advice; commonly used phrase in counselling contexts
To trap or confine a person, force, or group so that they cannot move or escape.
"Allied forces bottled up the enemy troops in the narrow coastal valley."
To put something inside a bottle and seal it shut — preventing it from getting out.
To stop yourself from showing how you feel, and keep all your emotions locked inside yourself.
Widely used in both British and American English. The emotional sense is the most common and carries a slightly negative connotation — it implies that suppressing emotions is unhealthy and will eventually cause problems. The military sense (bottling up enemy forces) is less common but established in historical and strategic writing.
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
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