Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To manage not to vomit; to retain food or drink in the stomach. This meaning refers to the physical act of preventing oneself from being sick.
   • To suppress, control, or restrain. This meaning refers to holding something back, limiting its growth, expression, or freedom, often by force or authority.
   • To keep at a low level; to prevent from increasing or rising. This meaning refers to maintaining something, such as a number, cost, or volume, at a minimal or controlled level.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (managing not to vomit):
  • The medicine made her nauseous, but she managed to keep it down.
  • He was so ill he couldn't keep down any food.
• Verb (suppressing or controlling):
  • The regime used fear to keep down political opposition.
  • It's hard to keep down your anger in such a frustrating situation.
• Verb (keeping at a low level):
  • We need to keep down costs to stay within budget.
  • Please keep the noise down; the baby is sleeping.

Advanced Usage

• "To keep one's head down": This related idiom means to avoid drawing attention to oneself, often to stay out of trouble.
  • During the office restructuring, he decided to keep his head down and just do his work.
• The phrase often implies an external force or conscious effort is applied to achieve the state of being "down" or controlled.

Variants and Related Words

• Suppress (verb): To put an end to something by force; to prevent from being expressed or known.
• Restrain (verb): To prevent someone or something from doing something; to keep under control.
• Subdue (verb): To overcome, quieten, or bring under control.
• Quell (verb): To put an end to (a rebellion or other disorder), typically by the use of force.

Synonyms

• Control
• Restrain
• Suppress
• Subdue
• Quell
• Swallow (for the "not vomit" meaning)

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Keep from: To prevent or stop someone from doing something.
  • She could hardly keep from laughing.
• Hold down: Very similar to "keep down" in its meanings of suppressing or maintaining at a low level (e.g., , ).

Related Idioms

• Keep a lid on something: To keep something under control and prevent it from increasing or spreading.
  • The company is trying to keep a lid on the scandal.
• Bottle up: To refuse to express strong emotions, which is related to the "suppress" meaning of "keep down."
  • Don't bottle up your feelings; it's not healthy.

Verb

1. manage not to throw up
2. put down by force or intimidation
   • The government quashes any attempt of an uprising
   • China keeps down her dissidents very efficiently
   • The rich landowners subjugated the peasants working the land
3. place a limit on the number of