put the lid on

Idioms & Phrases

put the lid on

Also, keep the lid on. Suppress, as in I don't know how but we'll have to put the lid on that rumor about her, or Let's keep the lid on our suspicions. The word lid here is used in the sense of "a cover for a container." [Early 1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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