'To bite the tongue' definitions:

Definition of 'To bite the tongue'

From: GCIDE

Bite \Bite\ (b[imac]t), v. t. [imp. Bit (b[i^]t); p. p. Bitten (b[i^]t"t'n), Bit; p. pr. & vb. n. Biting.] [OE. biten, AS. b[imac]tan; akin to D. bijten, OS. b[imac]tan, OHG. b[imac]zan, G. beissen, Goth. beitan, Icel. b[imac]ta, Sw. bita, Dan. bide, L. findere to cleave, Skr. bhid to cleave. [root]87. Cf. Fissure.] [1913 Webster]
1. To seize with the teeth, so that they enter or nip the thing seized; to lacerate, crush, or wound with the teeth; as, to bite an apple; to bite a crust; the dog bit a man. [1913 Webster]
Such smiling rogues as these, Like rats, oft bite the holy cords atwain. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
2. To puncture, abrade, or sting with an organ (of some insects) used in taking food. [1913 Webster]
3. To cause sharp pain, or smarting, to; to hurt or injure, in a literal or a figurative sense; as, pepper bites the mouth. "Frosts do bite the meads." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
4. To cheat; to trick; to take in. [Colloq.] --Pope. [1913 Webster]
5. To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to; as, the anchor bites the ground. [1913 Webster]
The last screw of the rack having been turned so often that its purchase crumbled, . . . it turned and turned with nothing to bite. --Dickens. [1913 Webster]
To bite the dust, To bite the ground, to fall in the agonies of death; as, he made his enemy bite the dust.
To bite in (Etching), to corrode or eat into metallic plates by means of an acid.
To bite the thumb at (any one), formerly a mark of contempt, designed to provoke a quarrel; to defy. "Do you bite your thumb at us?" --Shak.
To bite the tongue, to keep silence. --Shak. [1913 Webster]