at bay

Idioms  

1. Cornered, in distress, as in Angry bystanders chased the thief into an alley and held him at bay until the police arrived. This idiom originally came from hunting, where it describes an animal that has been driven back and now faces pursuing hounds. Its use for other situations dates from the late 1500s.

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Example Sentences

In “One Battle After Another,” his darkly comic action-thriller, Leonardo DiCaprio plays Bob Ferguson, a former revolutionary who has spent years in hiding, raising his teenage daughter and trying to keep his past at bay.

From Los Angeles Times

I would sip ice-cold cordial and suck ice lollies to keep dehydration at bay the best I could.

From BBC

Ben Platt describes himself as a highly anxious person, but there is one place that keeps his nerves at bay: the stage.

From Los Angeles Times

California made the right choice in keeping that predatory industry at bay.

From The Wall Street Journal

Geopolitics will keep the most bearish forecasts at bay, Croft said.

From Barron's

Related Words

• captured
• cornered