KEEP OFF

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does keep off mean? 

• KEEP OFF (verb)
  The verb KEEP OFF has 2 senses:

1. refrain from certain foods or beverages

2. refrain from entering or walking onto

  Familiarity information: KEEP OFF used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• KEEP OFF (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Refrain from certain foods or beverages

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

avoid; keep off

Context example:

During Ramadan, Muslims avoid tobacco during the day

Hypernyms (to "keep off" is one way to...):

abstain; desist; refrain (choose not to consume)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Refrain from entering or walking onto

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

keep off; stay off

Context example:

stay off the premises

Hypernyms (to "keep off" is one way to...):

avoid (stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

He was ordered to walk to keep off the gout, and Mrs Croft seemed to go shares with him in everything, and to walk for her life to do him good.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I am quite sorry to see them run about as they do; and indeed it is not very decent, for they have nothing upon their backs to keep off the cold.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

"It's a mere rehearsal of Much Ado about Nothing. Ladies, keep off, or I shall wax dangerous."

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Wolf Larsen motioned Louis to keep off slightly, and we dashed abreast of the boat, not a score of feet to windward.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

My dear, I'm going to have a pretty lonely walk between this and Kingdom Come. Won't you give me one kiss? It'll be something to keep off the darkness now and then.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“For the Lord's love,” said Mr. Peggotty, falling back, and putting out his hand, as if to keep off what he dreaded.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

When my guest was a little recovered I had great trouble to keep off the men, who wished to ask him a thousand questions; but I would not allow him to be tormented by their idle curiosity, in a state of body and mind whose restoration evidently depended upon entire repose.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

He listened, and heard an ant-king complain: Why cannot folks, with their clumsy beasts, keep off our bodies?

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

I don't mind acknowledging to you that I've got rather a grudging disposition, and want to keep off all intruders.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

In the first house where we stopped, when the woman who served us saw the scar on my forehead, she crossed herself and put out two fingers towards me, to keep off the evil eye.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)