give (one) the silent treatment

To ignore or deliberately avoid talking to one due to being angry at them. Well, I must have done something wrong because he's been giving me the silent treatment all week. Yes, she's still giving me the silent treatment, so how exactly am I supposed to reconcile with her? I didn't think he would be so offended by my joke, but he's given me the silent treatment ever since.

give someone the silent treatment

If you give someone the silent treatment, you do not speak to them for a period of time because you are annoyed with them. He fully expected his mother to give him the silent treatment.

See also: give, silent, someone, treatment

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

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References in periodicals archive

So in other words, you can give someone the silent treatment online, whereas you used to only be able to do it in person.

Cyberbullying: camp's role in helping girls disengage from an online world

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