keep a lid on en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
-
(idiomatic, imperative) To keep something secret.
It's supposed to be a surprise, so try to keep a lid on it, will you?
If he was listening to the England fans who gathered and sang non-stop late into the Moscow night behind the goal in the Spartak Stadium, it may have dawned on him that keeping a lid on expectations is likely to be a losing battle.
2018 July 3, Phil McNulty, “Colombia 1 - 1 England”, in BBC Sport:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| keeping a lid on | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| keeps a lid on | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| kept a lid on | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| kept a lid on | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Relateds
Translations (6)
de unter Verschluss halten (keep something secret) · cmn 盡量保密 /尽量保密 (keep something secret) · de geheim halten (keep something secret) · cmn 秘而不宣 (keep something secret) · fi pitää salassa (keep something secret) · cs držet pod pokličkou (keep something secret)