😔 Emotions
hold back
pour out
Some feelings are too big to keep inside forever.
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hold back
To restrain your emotions and prevent them from being expressed; to stop yourself from showing what you truly feel.
💡 He held back the words he most wanted to say, afraid of what might happen if he said them.
INFORMAL
pour out
To express your feelings freely and completely — often all at once; to release everything you have been keeping inside.
💡 She poured out everything she had been carrying — the fear, the anger, the longing — and felt lighter for it.
INFORMAL
🎯 QUIZ
Test your knowledge — read the sentence and choose the right phrasal verb. Click to answer.
QUESTION 1 OF 3
🎧 SHADOWING
Shadowing is one of the most powerful techniques for improving your English pronunciation and fluency. Listen → speak out loud → record yourself → compare.
Shadowing practice
Use your phone to record yourself repeating each sentence. Play it back and compare your pronunciation with the audio.
HOLD BACK
1 of 6
1
Listen to the audio
2
Repeat out loud — record yourself if you can
3
Write what you heard, then click Check to compare
🎙 RECORD YOUR PRONUNCIATION
✏ FILL THE BLANKS
One exercise for each verb — type your answer and click Check.
HOLD BACK ▶ FILL THE BLANK
She smiled and thanked him, but the disappointment she had been feeling since the morning.
Hint: past tense of the phrasal verb meaning 'to restrain your emotions and keep them from coming out'.
POUR OUT ▶ FILL THE BLANK
She had meant to say only a few things, but once she started, she everything — the loneliness, the fear, the things she had never said out loud before.
Hint: past tense of the phrasal verb meaning 'to express feelings freely and completely, all at once'.
📖 NARRATIVE
STORY 1 OF 2 · HOLD BACK
hold back
Every day for two years, Priya had kept a careful guard on what she showed. At work she was composed. With friends she was cheerful. She held back the tiredness, the doubt, the sense that she was disappearing under everyone else's needs. The performance was flawless. Underneath it, she was running out of space.
👤 AUTHOR
