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to stay out of trouble

to stay out of trouble

48 3.2
To avoid getting into problems with the police or people in charge
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : no meterse en problemas
  • We need more places teenagers can go to stay out of trouble.
  • try to stay out of trouble
  • help someone stay out of trouble
  • manage to stay out of trouble

And so I kind of just navigated through the rest of my my childhood years trying to stay out of trouble.

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Examples

  • As long as we stay out of trouble, I guess it's okay.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Yeah, just trying to ride things out, you know, stay out of trouble.

  • Stay safe, stay out of trouble, but have a good time, OK?

  • Try and stay out of trouble, D.

  • But you gotta stay out of trouble.

  • Can you stay out of trouble?

  • Try and stay out of trouble.

  • Go someplace where you can stay out of trouble.

  • I warned Raul to stay out of trouble.

  • If you want to keep your job, you should really stay out of trouble with your boss.

Synonyms

to avoid
vsto stay out of trouble
1.0

To stay away from something or not do it to stop something bad from happening

targets conduct that could cause legal or official consequences
to watch out
vsto stay out of trouble
  • Informal
582 3.0

To be careful to avoid danger or trouble

avoids involvement proactively to prevent problems with authority or law
to stay away from
vsto stay out of trouble
384 2.3

Avoid going near people or places for safety

avoids involvement that could lead to serious problems with authorities
to stay out of it
vsto stay out of trouble
56 3.8

To avoid getting involved in an argument or fight

avoids involvement that could cause trouble with authority or law
to steer clear of
vsto stay out of trouble
  • Informal
34 4.0

To stay away from people and things that may cause trouble or harm

avoids risky situations that might attract legal or official attention

Antonyms

Have problems because of what you do

How Risky

to take risks
56 3.2
to stay out of trouble
48 3.2

Surface Forms

stay out of trouble infinitive
stayed out of trouble past participle
staying out of trouble present participle
stays out of trouble third person singular

Morphology

stay + out + of + trouble

The meaning 'to avoid getting involved in problems' is directly and predictably derived from combining 'stay' (remain) with the spatial/negative sense 'out of' (not in) and 'trouble' (problems). This is a transparent compositional pattern (stay + out of + noun) found in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Stay out of trouble gives a clear picture: imagine someone walking around a place called trouble, choosing to stay out of it instead of going in. So it means 'to avoid getting into problems'.