keep off

verb

1. to stay or cause to stay at a distance (from)

2. (preposition) not to eat or drink or prevent from eating or drinking

3. (preposition) to avoid or cause to avoid (a topic)

4. (intr, adverb) not to start

   the rain kept off all day

Idioms and Phrases

Ward off, avert, as in She used a bug spray to keep off the mosquitoes . [Mid-1500s]

Stay away from, not touch or trespass on; also, prevent from touching or trespassing. For example, They put up a sign asking the public to keep off their property , or Please keep your feet off the sofa . [Late 1500s] Also see hands off .

Example Sentences

It hit the number one spot in its first week in Japan and the USA, and was only kept off the top in the UK by Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale.

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Elsewhere in the segment, Watters openly wondered how many racist mascots the network could have kept off the scrap heap.

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The song debuted at number two on the US Billboard 100 chart, and Drake expressed frustration at being kept off the top spot by Alex Warren's hit Ordinary.

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"Despite this record expenditure - which importantly is being artificially kept off local authority balance sheets - we recognise that there is widespread dissatisfaction with the system," he said.

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Our sentencing reforms will force prisoners to earn their way to release or face longer in jail for bad behaviour, while ensuring the most dangerous offenders can be kept off our streets.

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Related Words

• avert 
• avoid 
• deflect 
• rebuff 
• rebut 
• reject 
• repel 
• repulse 
• resist 
• spurn 
• ward off