Printer Friendly
The Free Dictionary
1,034,891,991 visitors served.
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

keep at bay

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Hutchinson 0.06 sec.
keep something/someone at bay
to prevent something or someone unpleasant from coming too near you or harming you. If we can keep the rabbits at bay, we should have a good crop of vegetables in the garden. For me, overeating is a way of keeping my feelings at bay.
See also: bay, keep


keep someone at bay
to prevent someone from moving closer. He held the police at bay with a gun for several hours.
See also: bay, keep


keep something at bay
to control something and prevent it from causing you problems. She fought to keep her unhappiness at bay. In the garden, there's no security system to keep the rabbits at bay. Experts hope the economy will slow enough to keep inflation at bay.
See also: bay, keep

?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
? References in periodicals archive
Attaching and following a human is the one way she can keep at bay the blackness and cold that threaten to envelop her.
All this is bound to introduce rigidities that would keep at bay the growth processes that work through a shift of resources from a set of activities in one region to another set of activities in another region.
Both were diagnosed with autism when they were just 22 months old, and they each spend several hours a week in physical, social and speech therapy to keep at bay the silent withdrawal often associated with the disease.
 
Idioms browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Idioms and phrases
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2008 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.. Terms of Use.