Meaning & use
keep out
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
Used as a warning or instruction not to go into a place.
Grammar: Used as a command, often on signs: Keep out!
Patterns
- Keep out!
- Keep out of something
The sign on the fence said, 'Danger: keep out.'
Keep out! This room is private.
Children, keep out of the workshop.
verbphrasal verb
To avoid entering a place, or to prevent someone or something from entering.
Grammar: Can take an object (keep the cold out) or be followed by of (keep out of trouble).
Patterns
- keep out of something
- keep someone out
- keep something out
Good windows keep out the cold.
Please keep the dog out of the garden.
He tried to keep out of the argument.
Word forms
| third person singular | keeps out |
|---|---|
| past tense | kept out |
| past participle | kept out |
| -ing form | keeping out |
Common combinations
- keep out of trouble
- She tried to keep out of trouble.
- keep out of reach
- Keep medicine out of reach of children.
- keep the rain out
- The roof keeps the rain out.
- keep out of the way
- Keep out of the way of the traffic.
- keep out of this
- Keep out of this; it is not your business.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stay away
- Stay away is more general and does not need a specific place.
- no entry
- No entry is a formal sign wording.
- exclude
- Exclude is formal and means to leave someone out of a group.
- avoid
- Avoid means to stay away from something, not to be forbidden.
Opposites
Word family
- keep verb
- to hold or stay
- keep-out zone noun
- an area where entry is banned
Commonly confused: keep out or keep off?
keep out vs keep off
Keep off is used for surfaces: keep off the grass. Keep out is for spaces you must not enter.
Practice
Which sentence is correct?
Choose one answer.
Keep out is followed by of before the place. Out, from and to alone are not idiomatic here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “keep out”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.