keep the peace

1. Maintain public order; prevent strife. For example, President Clinton ordered troops to Bosnia to keep the peace. This expression dates from the 1400s and was originally used more in the first sense, that is, of police keeping public order. It gained extra currency in the second half of the 1900s when military forces were sent to diverse places—Lebanon, Haiti, Bosnia—to stop warring factions.

Example Sentences

Any country sending troops to keep the peace in the enclave could risk having a run-in with Hamas forces at some point, and that could place them in an uncomfortable position.

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Throughout the litigation over deployments in Chicago, Portland, and Los Angeles, courts and lawyers alike have focused primarily on whether the president is genuinely “unable” to keep the peace without the Guard’s help; the meaning of the phrase regular forces has taken a back seat.

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These steps would help keep the peace, which is a better prize than the Nobel.

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As the area became more popular over the years, leading to mounting tensions between skiers, commuters, snowplow drivers and highway-patrol officials, Pistono worked to keep the peace.

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“We were there to keep the peace and prevent any type of altercation with ICE or any other federal agency.”

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