Phrasal verbs with keep

When you think about keep, you're dealing with the idea of maintaining control or making something stay in a particular state. This central meaning runs through all the phrasal verbs with keep, but the particles add important directions and nuances.

Many keep phrasal verbs involve creating barriers or boundaries. You keep someone out when you stop them entering, and you keep away when you maintain distance yourself. Similarly, keep off means avoiding contact with something, while keep something in means holding it back or restraining it. Notice how these all involve controlling what gets close to what.

Another group focuses on continuation and progress. When you keep on, you continue without stopping, and keep something up means making it continue. But keep up with is slightly different – here you're trying to match someone else's pace or progress. These show how keep combines with different particles to express various aspects of ongoing action.

Some keep phrasal verbs deal with information and disclosure. You keep something back when you don't reveal it, showing how keep can mean withholding rather than just maintaining. Meanwhile, keep to something means sticking with a plan or path you've chosen.

The particle often shows direction or containment. Down suggests control or suppression in keep something down, while up in keep someone up means preventing them from sleeping.