keep after

phrasal verb

kept after; keeping after; keeps after

informal : to tell (someone) again and again to do something

My kids kept after me to quit smoking, so I finally did.

I wasn't going to audition, but my friends kept after me.

US : to require (a student) to stay at school after classes have ended

The teacher kept him after (school) for misbehaving in class.

Examples of keep after in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The gross profit margin is one of them — the portion that companies keep after paying just the direct costs to make or stock their goods. —

Alina Selyukh, NPR, 9 Sep. 2024 While a student at Christian Brothers High School, he was kept after classes one day and happened to see a group of female students arrive at the all-boys school for a theatrical production. —

Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun, 3 July 2024 However, Israel does not want to keep the bulk of its military based in Gaza indefinitely, but rather to pull back and regularly reenter to keep after Hamas. —

Trudy Rubin, The Mercury News, 17 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'keep after.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.