to keep the peace
38
3.7
- idiom
:
mantener la paz
- The mediator worked hard to keep the peace between the two disputing parties in negotiations.
- keep the peace internationally
It becomes problematic when you are lying to yourself or trying to keep the peace in a relationship versus maintain the love.
- It becomes problematic when you are lying to yourself or trying to keep the peace in a relationship versus maintain the love.
- The only thing that can really be bad on the part of a sovereign is not keeping the peace.
- Obanian was Irish, but Merlo was on good terms with him, so he leaned on Torrio and the Jenas to keep the peace.
- And we went there to keep the peace and we prevented a civil war from taking place between those two communities.
- And the family so obsessed with keeping the peace is asking this person who had all their food thrown out to pretty much tamp down their own emotions.
- And so I would say you can keep the peace by allowing her to be whoever and however she needs to be and not trying to change her.
- The National Guard keeps the peace like the cops and Kyle racist.
Examples
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You pay me to keep the peace.
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The French established posts in this zone to keep the peace between those hostile sections of the Greek nation.
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The previous king had promised to never do this, and that promise had kept the peace in France for the last nine years.
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And it is the need to be liked, the need to keep the peace, the need to not upset anybody.
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Plus, someone has to stay behind to keep the peace.
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It's our duty to keep the peace.
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I have to keep the peace.
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And we went there to keep the peace and we prevented a civil war from taking place between those two communities.
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Similarly, MPS have the kind of skills that are often needed to keep the peace in conflict spots.
Academic text (2002) -
The Penobscots and the commissioners possessed similar goals in resolving contested claims and tried to keep the peace when conflicts arose.
Academic text (2018)
Synonyms
89
3.4
To stop arguing and become friendly again
8
6.3
To bring peace to a place after fighting, often by using force
1
7.9
To stop people being angry and make them friendly again
To make a noisy or angry crowd become quiet and stay under control
Stop fighting and try to be friends again
Antonyms
- Formal
1
5.1
An action that makes a public place noisy or unsafe and can get you in trouble with the police
How Peaceful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to maintain calm and prevent conflict' is directly derivable from combining 'keep' (to maintain or prevent change) with 'peace' (absence of conflict); the definite article just marks the state. This is a common compositional verb + noun phrase pattern with clear cross-linguistic parallels, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should understand it.
Etymology
Keep the peace may come from old rules where officers were told to keep the peace, called the 'king's peace', by stopping fights and keeping order. So today it means 'to prevent conflict' and 'maintain calm'.