transitive verb
1. : restrain
had a hard time keeping her back
kept the man back from committing the crime
: hold back : retard
kept the completion of the plan back by a year
2.
a. : to refrain from giving : withhold
kept a portion of his pay back
b. : to refrain from divulging
kept the information back until he was paid for it
c. : reserve , save
kept rare items back for customers who would pay the best prices
intransitive verb
: to refrain from approaching or advancing near (as to something dangerous)
asked the children to keep back while the fireworks were exploding
Synonyms: see keep