keep quiet
idiom
1
: to not say anything or make any noise
He thought about telling the police what he knew, but he decided to keep quiet.
Please keep quiet during the movie.
2
: to not say anything about (something)
She kept her plans quiet.
3
: to prevent (someone or something) from making noise
She gave the dog a bone to keep him quiet.
4
: to prevent (someone) from revealing information about something
They paid money to the witness to keep him quiet.
Examples of keep quiet in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Poles insisted he wasn’t given a directive to keep quiet until then.
—
Colleen Kane, Hartford Courant, 25 Apr. 2024
At the poem’s conclusion, Silence is made to give up his knighthood, marry a king, and forced into a life of silent passivity.
Condemn, or keep quiet?
—Jessica Hines, The Conversation, 16 May 2024
One woman, Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, accepted $150,000 from The Enquirer to keep quiet about her story of an affair with Mr. Trump, a deal Mr. Cohen helped arrange.
—Maggie Haberman, New York Times, 13 May 2024
Djimon Hounsou, who plays Henri, also makes an appearance, running into Nyong'o as both hide and try to keep quiet so as not to be discovered by the monsters.
—Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY, 10 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for keep quiet 
Colleen Kane, Hartford Courant, 25 Apr. 2024
At the poem’s conclusion, Silence is made to give up his knighthood, marry a king, and forced into a life of silent passivity.
Condemn, or keep quiet?
—Jessica Hines, The Conversation, 16 May 2024
One woman, Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, accepted $150,000 from The Enquirer to keep quiet about her story of an affair with Mr. Trump, a deal Mr. Cohen helped arrange.
—Maggie Haberman, New York Times, 13 May 2024
Djimon Hounsou, who plays Henri, also makes an appearance, running into Nyong'o as both hide and try to keep quiet so as not to be discovered by the monsters.
—Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY, 10 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for keep quiet
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'keep quiet.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near keep quiet
Cite this Entry
“Keep quiet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/keep%20quiet. Accessed 30 Jun. 2024.
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