1
general::
Phrase(s): keep someone or something from doing something
to prevent someone or something from doing something. • Would you please keep your dog from digging in my garden? • Her lack of a degree kept her from advancing., Phrase(s): keep someone from someone or something
to hold someone away from someone or something; to prevent someone from getting at someone or something. • You must keep the child from her mother until the mother is infection-free. • It is hard to keep a child from the playground, even a sick child. • I could hardly keep myself from the dessert table., Phrase(s): keep someone from doing something
to prevent someone from doing something. • I kept the child from falling in the lake by grabbing his collar. • I try to keep myself from overeating, but I seem to fail frequently., Phrase(s): keep something from someone
not to tell something to someone. • Why did you keep the news from me? I needed to know. • This matter shouldn’t have been kept from me., Phrase(s): keep from something
to avoid doing something; to refrain from doing something. • How could I keep from crying? It was so sad! • Try to keep from falling off the ladder.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
1. Withhold; also, prevent. For example, What information are you keeping from me? or Please keep your dog from running through our garden. [c. 1340] 2. Restrain one-self, hold oneself back, as in I can hardly keep from laughing. [c. 1340]
American Heritage Idioms