to keep (someone's) voice down
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
hablar en voz baja
- The librarian reminded us to keep our voices down in the reading room.
Examples
-
She whispered, asking him to keep his voice down so as not to wake the baby.
-
Please keep your voice down while others are working.
-
The teacher asked Mark to keep his voice down.
-
Can you keep John's voice down a bit?
-
The teacher asked the students to keep their voices down during the exam.
-
While they were studying, she gently reminded him to keep his voice down to avoid disturbing others.
-
During the movie, he leaned over and whispered to his friend to keep his voice down.
Synonyms
586
1.0
To speak very quietly using only breath so one person can hear
191
2.7
Make the sound or heat from something lower, for example music
169
3.5
To stop someone from speaking or making noise
140
3.7
To speak quietly so others cannot hear, often to complain
68
3.2
To make someone or something calm and less noisy
64
5.8
To make a sound or feeling quieter so it is less noticeable
44
3.7
To make something less strong, for example a sound, color or feeling
42
2.0
Make people or things less noisy and less active
35
7.1
To become quiet or tell someone to stop making noise
33
3.4
Make a person or thing quiet so others stop making noise
21
3.1
To stop a sound or notification from making noise
11
4.2
To speak in a low, quiet voice, often to complain or say something softly
3
4.6
Make someone or something less noisy and calmer
2
5.0
Make someone stop talking and be quiet
Antonyms
How Loud
∞
1.0
644
1.0
43
2.0
- Informal
11
4.2
586
1.0
231
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
keep + (someone's) + voice + down
The meaning 'to speak quietly' is transparently derived from 'keep' (maintain/prevent change) + 'voice' (sound of speaking) + 'down' (lower): literally 'keep the voice low.' This is a common, compositional pattern across languages (e.g. Spanish 'bajar la voz') and follows standard English syntax, so a B1 learner who knows the parts will readily understand it.
Etymology
The phrasal verb keep (someone's) voice down comes from the simple image of holding sound low, like turning a radio down so it does not carry. So to keep someone's voice down means 'to speak quietly' so you do not disturb other people.