The Phrasal Verb 'Keep Down' Explained
- Phrasal Verbs Explained
- Mar 28
- 9 min read
An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'keep down' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them.
In this post, I will be explaining the phrasal verb 'keep down' and four different ways that you can use it in your everyday English. I will provide you with lots of example sentences for each usage, from remaining in a low position to managing not to vomit when you are ill. So, without ado, let's make a start and hopefully you can learn something new about this useful phrasal verb!
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KEEP DOWN: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 4 |
Past tense forms | Kept down / Kept down |
Separable? | Yes |
MEANINGSÂ (Click to jump to each one)
THE BASICS
As a starting point in our exploration of the phrasal verb 'keep down', let's first consider the individual words 'keep' and 'down'.
The base verb in our construction, 'to keep', is a common irregular verb with several main meanings in English. Perhaps the one that you will know best is 'to retain something in your possession' and from this we also get the idea of the second meaning, which is 'to hold something in a specific place'. Another key usage of the verb 'to keep' is 'to continue', in which case it is followed by a gerund to specify the continued activity.
I told my brother that he could keep the book I had leant him.
Joanne kept the letter from her father.
Please keep the change!
I keep a photograph of my parents next to my bed.
Please keep this in mind for the future.
I keep forgetting my colleague's name.
Why do you keep asking me the same question?
The prepositional particle 'down' is one that you will all know as a word that generally denotes a downward movement or decrease of sorts and these meanings can often be reflected in phrasal verb constructions (go down, slow down). In addition to this, when 'down' is included in phrasal verbs, it can also add the ideas of suppression (hold down), recording (write down) and finality (close down), among others.
So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the main meanings of the phrasal verb 'keep down'....
MEANING 1: To remain in a low position
CEFR Language Level | A2 - Elementary |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To lie low, to stay down |
Separable? | No |
Let's begin the meanings of 'keep down' with the one that is closest to a literal meaning of the two words combined, which is 'to remain in a low position'.
The meaning of this application is simply derived from combining the idea of remaining or staying that we get from the verb 'to keep' with the idea of being in a downward or low position.
Situations in which this application is used....
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We only use this application to talk about being physically in a low position with our bodies. For this reason, it tends only to be used in reference to when we want to stay down because we are hiding somewhere and do not want other people to see us. As such, this is commonly heard in reference to soldiers and the military when fighting wars and, on a lighter note, when we are playing a game that involves hiding from other people.
As we are talking about just our own bodies here, there is no direct object with this application and therefore it is not separable unless you use it with a reflexive 'self pronoun, which is not particularly common to do.
The verb 'to keep' is often used to form imperatives (to tell people what to do) and you may often hear this first application in use to tell people to stay in a low position that they have adopted.
Keep down or they'll see us hiding behind the bushes!
The soldiers were told to keep down to avoid enemy fire.
If you keep down, you’ll have a better chance of staying out of sight.
The shopkeeper had to keep down behind the counter while the armed robbers were in the store.
We should keep down until the coast is clear.
MEANING 2: To keep a number or level low
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To hold, to limit, to curb, to restrict, to check, to rein in |
Separable? | Yes |
In the previous section, we looked at the idea of remaining in a low position to avoid being seen or detected and in this second application, we are again talking about something remaining low, however this time it is numbers, quantities and levels instead of our physical bodies.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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You will note from the list above that this application is primarily used with nouns for things that we can control and therefore make increase or decrease. To clarify, if we keep something down, then we control it and do not allow it to rise or increase as we want the level to stay low.
To give you some examples of this, governments around the world are constantly trying to keep economic inflation down and if you are getting married, you may want to keep the number of guests down and not invite a large number of people in order to save some money.
Grammatically speaking, this usage does take a direct object, which is the thing that we want to prevent from increasing or going up and it is therefore separable. I think in this case, we tend to use it separably slightly more than inseparably but both are fine to use and the meaning is the same either way.
We need to keep costs down if we want to stay within budget.
Regular exercise and a healthy diet help to keep cholesterol levels down.
The government is trying to keep down inflation through new economic policies.
Drinking plenty of water can help keep your body temperature down in hot weather.
The company introduced new policies to keep employee turnover down.
The family installed insulation to keep down heating costs during the winter.
The doctor advised Sarah to avoid salty foods to keep her blood pressure down.
SHHHHHHHHH! I AM TRYING TO CONCENTRATE
One other common way to use this application is with noise levels, particularly when you want people to be quiet. In this case, it would be normal to ask them to "keep the noise down".
A variation of this is "keep it down" and as mentioned previously, this is often used in an imperative form, especially as the person requesting the quietness often tends to be angry or annoyed....I think we have all had moments like that.
He spoke quietly to keep the noise down and not disturb the others.
I am just going for a nap, so could please keep the noise down in here.
Shhhh! Keep it down! I am trying to revise for my exam.
Can you keep it down please?! You sound like a herd of elephants!
MEANING 3: To repress someone
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To repress, to suppress, to restrain, to control, to subject |
Separable? | Yes |
For our third application of 'keep down', we are turning our attention to something unpleasant that happens all over the world as it means 'to repress someone'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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Firstly, if you are not familiar with the verb 'to repress', it means to not allow something to be expressed and would typically be used with words, emotions and feelings. When used in reference to people, it means to control them and restrict their freedom, so that they have less than others and are not able to progress or improve their lives. This can either be just one or two people or a whole group within society.
With this definition in mind, I think that it is fair to say that within all human social structures across the globe, people are repressed or 'kept down' in some way. In other words, many people are controlled and therefore not always allowed to express themselves freely or live how they wish. Of course, this does not apply to everyone but I think elements of this are present everywhere to a greater or lesser degree.
For this usage, we are thinking of society in terms of a hierarchy, with the most powerful people at the top and the less powerful 'kept down' at the bottom, without being given the opportunity to rise up the hierarchy to the top. As such, you will often hear this application in use to refer to governments, leaders and political regimes.
The dictator used fear and violence to keep political opposition down.
Unfair laws were designed to keep down certain groups in society.
The strict school rules were meant to keep down any form of rebellion among students.
The oppressive regime worked hard to keep down the voices of dissent.
Corrupt leaders often try to keep down the poor to maintain their power.
The ruling class imposed heavy taxes to keep down the lower classes.
John refused to let anyone keep him down and fought for his rights.
The media was censored to keep any criticism of the government down.
The government introduced harsh measures to keep down the workers demanding fair wages.
In addition to people and groups of people, we can also use this application of 'keep down' to talk about repressing emotions and reactions that come from our emotions. Typically, this is when we feel the emotion inside us but we refuse to express it publicly and keep it inside.
Ellie struggled to keep down her anger during the argument.
Ben took a deep breath to keep his frustration down and stay calm.
Luke tried to keep his excitement down, but his smile gave him away.
Despite the bad news, Sally managed to keep down her disappointment and stay composed.
MEANING 4: To not vomit
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To not vomit |
Separable? | Yes |
Now we move on to our fourth and final meaning of 'keep down', which is 'to not vomit' and as you can guess, it is all about being in ill health.
Nouns commonly used with this expression....
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When someone is ill, specifically with a stomach bug or perhaps because he or she has drunk too much alcohol, vomiting is one of the main symptoms. Annoyingly, when we have a bad stomach, it tends to last for a while and does not usually go away immediately, meaning that we will vomit several or sometimes many times. During these periods, we are not able to hold any food or drink that we consume in our stomachs and when this happens, we can say that "we cannot keep food or drink down".
The idea here is that when we eat something, we swallow it and it moves down to our stomach and normally stays there. When we then combine this idea of 'holding' that we get from the verb 'to keep', this idea of being able to hold something in our stomachs is derived.
Again, this final usage is separable and takes a direct object, which is the food or drink that we are trying to keep down in our stomach.
Sam was so sick that she could barely keep down a sip of water.
After the surgery, Terry struggled to keep down any solid food.
Jeremy felt awful after the boat ride but managed to keep his lunch down and didn't vomit.
The medication helped her keep down her meals without feeling queasy.
We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'keep down'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts.
Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'keep down'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!!
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