keep back
Britishverb
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(tr) to refuse to reveal or disclose
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to prevent, be prevented, or refrain from advancing, entering, etc
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Return, sisters, to your trees—or if you stay, you must keep back. And children, stay silent. There can be no distractions,” she said.
From Literature
At least there was only one of them in each grade, and since they never got kept back, you always had the same one to put up with.
From Literature
Crowds of civilians were kept back by armed Hamas fighters as she appeared on a platform and was given a certificate, before being passed to the Red Cross.
From BBC
There have been chaotic scenes at the opening of the annual agricultural show in Paris as farmers broke through security barriers and had to be kept back by riot police.
From BBC
While the bison do help keep back some of the invasive grasses, Dennhardt explains that they create wallows and cause erosion.
From National Geographic
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
