loosen someone's tongue

loosen someone's tongue

1. (idiomatic) To cause (someone) to be less cautious or more free in what they say.
   • 1848, Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Chapter 24,

     He made a long stay in the dining-room after dinner, and, I fear, took an unusual quantity of wine, but not enough to loosen his tongue: for when he came in and found me quietly occupied with my book, too busy to lift my head on his entrance, he merely murmured an expression of suppressed disapprobation […]

   • 1896, H. G. Wells, The Island of Doctor Moreau, Chapter 4,

     We relapsed into silence. Presently he laughed. “There’s something in this starlight that loosens one’s tongue. I’m an ass, and yet somehow I would like to tell you.”

   • 1914, James Joyce, “After the Race” in Dubliners,

     He admired the dexterity with which their host directed the conversation. The five young men had various tastes and their tongues had been loosened.

   • 2000, Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, New York: Random House, Chapter 11, p. 552,

     Tommy had apparently been plied with ice cream and soda pop at the police station, to loosen his tongue.