From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishkeep from phrasal verb1 keep (somebody/something) from somethingPREVENT to prevent someone from doing something or prevent something from happeningkeep somebody from (doing) something His ex-wife had kept him from seeing his children. I hope I haven’t kept you from your work.keep something from doing something Put the pizza in the bottom of the oven to keep the cheese from burning.keep (yourself) from doing something The play was so boring I could hardly keep myself from falling asleep.2 keep something from somebodyTELL A SECRET to prevent someone from knowing something, by deliberately not telling them about it SYN withhold The government had wanted to keep this information from the public. → keep→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
keep from• They can be kept from behaving badly towards each money.• I knew that l would have to do everything I could to keep from being anxious or desperate.• Gabriel had to bite his cheeks to keep from bursting out laughing.• Not, that is, if the flat tax exempts enough income to keep from crunching the poor.• How is a person to keep from eating delicious food if it will later make him sick?• I had to brace myself against the side to keep from getting sucked into the overheated pit he created with his body.• Herman says that her sisters have deliberately been kept from him.• Norm said, and it was all she could do to keep from slapping that fresh mouth of his.keep (yourself) from doing something• Gabriel had to bite his cheeks to keep from bursting out laughing.• He had to stomp hard on the crust of ice with each step in order to keep from falling.• Herman says that her sisters have deliberately been kept from him.• I was singled out and kept from getting on a plane because of my name and for no other reason.• In spite of all I could do, it was getting tough to keep from getting lost.• The language helper needs to be kept from being bored, too.• The spiritual riches of a full life are kept from the sufferer while the therapist colludes with the addictive disease itself.• What else might she be keeping from him? 