keep to
Related to keep to: keep to oneself
keep (oneself) to (oneself)
To refrain from attempting to communicate or make connections with others. You'll never make friends if you keep yourself to yourself all the time. The old man down the street always kept himself to himself. I never even knew his name until my parents pointed out his obituary.
See also: keep
keep (something) to (oneself)
To not reveal or share some thought, idea, opinion, or piece of information with anyone else. I think it's best that we keep this to ourselves until we can determine what impact it will have. I don't want your advice, so if you have any suggestions, just keep them to yourself!
See also: keep
keep to (oneself)
1. To refrain from attempting to communicate or make connections with others. If you want to make friends, you can't keep to yourself all the time. Start meeting people! The old man down the street always keeps to himself. I just realized I don't even know his name.
2. To not reveal or share some thought, idea, opinion, or piece of information with anyone else. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "keep" and "to." Please tell them to keep the news to themselves for the time being. We're not ready to announce anything publicly yet. You really shouldn't keep your feelings to yourself like that.
See also: keep
keep to (something)
1. To adhere to something, such as a plan or a rule; to stick to something. Please keep to the plan, and everything will go smoothly. How can I trust you if you never keep to your promises?
2. To ensure something remains adherent to or in line with something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "keep" and "to." They brought in a new manager to keep the project to schedule.
3. To ensure something remains in some condition or style. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "keep" and "to." Please keep your report to straightforward prose. There's no need for such flamboyant or descriptive language.
4. To ensure something remains at some level or amount (of something). In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "keep" and "to." We're trying to keep the noise to a minimum while Ben recovers in bed. I found it hard keeping the essay to just 4,000 words.
5. To remain within or not go away from some specific area, typically because of some restriction. Keep to the front yard, kids—I don't want to see you running in the street. The princess hated that she always had to keep to the castle.
See also: keep
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
keep to something
to adhere to an agreement; to follow a plan; to keep a promise. Please keep to the agreed-upon plan. Can you keep to what we agreed on?
See also: keep
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
keep to
1. Adhere to, conform to, as in Let's keep to the original purpose of this will. [Early 1600s]
2. Confine oneself to, as in Whenever she didn't feel well, she kept to her bed. Also see keep to oneself.
See also: keep
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
keep to
v.
1. To refrain from venturing away from some place or activity: Because of the rain, the kids mostly kept to their rooms.
2. To adhere to some plan; stick with something: We should ignore these new projects and keep to the original purpose of our organization.
3. To remain private, unsociable, or uncommunicative. Used reflexively: The people at the party were not very friendly, so I kept to myself.
See also: keep
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
keep to (oneself)
1. To shun the company of others: She kept to herself all morning.
2. To refrain from divulging: He kept the news to himself.
See also: keep
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
- keep (oneself) to (oneself)
- keep oneself to oneself
- keep yourself to yourself
- keep oneself to oneself, to
- work (oneself) up
- work oneself up
- work up
- worked up
- help (oneself) to
- help to