to keep off
127
2.4
- phrasal verb
- /kip ɔf/
:
mantenerse alejado de
- Keep off the track!
- keep off the streets
Lose the weight and keep the weight off forever.
- Lose the weight and keep the weight off forever.
- And my dad's whole thing was his direction was keep her off the stand, which he did.
- And the other is keep your eyes off somebody else's wife.
- Have you seen anybody come off of Ozempic and keep the weight off just from diet and exercise?
- It helped, not it kept the stink off of them.
- Do you know how if you want to release weight and keep it off?
- But, yeah, I mean, the great thing about that, it kept me off the pipe, off the pole.
- But then there's the distractions that they use to keep your eye off the ball.
- I said, because as a pimp, I kept my girls off for drugs.
Examples
-
To avoid any accidents, please keep off the wet floor.
-
Going to college helps out a lot because it keeps me off the street.
Academic text (2014) -
Players and the EMU marching band were kept off the field during that time.
Academic text (2016) -
The sign clearly says to keep off the grass.
-
If you want to stay healthy, it's best to keep off sugary snacks.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To stay away from something or not do it to stop something bad from happening
∞
2.3
To avoid touching and disturbing a person, animal or object
590
1.6
Keep a distance from people or things you want to avoid
384
2.3
Avoid going near people or places for safety
356
2.8
Move away from someone, or stop taking part in something
187
1.6
Stop someone or something from coming near
92
2.9
To avoid dealing with a problem or responsibility
87
4.2
Choose not to do something you want to do
57
2.6
Avoid walking on places like wet grass or a freshly painted floor
41
4.6
Avoid doing something because you feel afraid or unsure
34
4.0
To stay away from people and things that may cause trouble or harm
32
3.9
To stay away from people or things to avoid close contact
31
1.0
To stay outside a place and not go in
23
8.9
To avoid something on purpose
15
3.7
To refuse to have anything to do with someone or something
Antonyms
How Distant
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to avoid or stay away from' follows directly from combining 'keep' (maintain/prevent) with 'off' (away from a surface or place): together they indicate keeping something at a distance. This compositional motion/maintenance pattern is common cross-linguistically and appears in straightforward imperatives like 'Keep off the grass,' so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Keep off comes from warning signs that tell people to keep themselves off a place, like newly planted grass or a construction site. The picture of someone being kept away from the ground makes the phrase mean 'to avoid' or 'stay away from' something.