English Idioms - letter K

Idiom	Definition	Usage
kangaroo court	self-appointed group	They were convicted by a kangaroo court and did not agree with the decision.
keel over	faint and fall over	He thought that he was going to keel over because of the heat.
keel over	tip over	The boat looked like it was going to keel over.
keep a secret	not tell others	You should keep a secret about your new job.
keep a stiff upper lip	face the situation with pride	The team could keep a stiff upper lip even though they were defeated.
keep after	keep reminding	You should keep after her to do her homework.
keep an eye on	Watch	Keep an eye on my bicycle while I order some coffee.
keep at	continue	He has decided to keep at his studies at the university.
keep body and soul together	survive	It was very cold during the winter but somehow she was able to keep body and soul together.
keep books	keep records of money gained and spent	She used to keep books for a small company.
keep down	control	The students were told to keep down the noise.
keep from	refrain from	I could not keep from eating all that cake.
keep good time	accurately report the time	My watch does not been keep good time lately.
keep house	look after household	She likes to keep house more than working for a company.
keep in touch	stay in contact	I have always tried to keep in touch with my friends.
keep on	continue	She will keep on making the same mistakes.
keep one's chin up	continue and not quit	Try and keep your chin up.
keep one's cool	remain calm	He was able to keep his cool when his house burned down.
keep one's eye on the ball	be watchful and ready	You should keep your eye on the ball or you will make a mistake.
keep one's fingers crossed	wish for good results	Please keep your fingers crossed that I will pass the exam.
keep one's head	stay calm when there is trouble or danger	He is a very good leader and is always able to keep his head.
keep one's head above water	be able to pay his debts	He cannot seem to keep his head above water since his salary has decreased.
keep one's mouth shut	be quiet	She was very angry and told him to keep his mouth shut.
keep one's nose clean	stay out of trouble	He has been managing to keep his nose clean since he moved to the new town.
keep one's nose to the grindstone	work very hard	He is really able to keep his nose to the grindstone.
keep one's own counsel	keep ideas and plans to himself	He always seems to keep his own counsel.
keep one's shirt on	calm down	Try and keep your shirt on.
keep one's wits about one	stay calm	Although there was a fire in the building he was able to keep his wits about him.
keep one's word	fulfill her promise	She never can keep her word.
keep pace with	go as fast as	It was difficult to keep pace with the other students.
keep quiet	remain silent	Please keep quiet and listen to the instructor.
keep the books	keep records of money gained and spent	The head of the accounting department will keep the books this year.
keep track of	record	The company will keep track of the money spent on paper this month.
keep your eye on the ball	stay focused	Try to keep your eye on the ball and finish the project.
kick out of	enjoyment from	I get a kick out of watching him paint.
knocked up	pregnant	My dog gets knocked up once a year.