keep tabs on
To monitor; to keep track of; to watch.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“I keep tabs on my spending every month.”
“She uses a fitness watch to keep tabs on her daily steps.”
“The manager likes to keep tabs on the project progress to ensure we meet our deadlines.”
“Parents often use mobile apps to keep tabs on their children's location when they start walking home from school alone for the first time.”
“The security guards keep tabs on everyone entering the building by checking their ID cards and recording their names in a digital log.”
“The government agency continues to keep tabs on the volatile market, adjusting their policies whenever unexpected economic shifts threaten the stability of the national currency.”
The phrase derives from the nineteenth-century use of tab as a shortened form of tablet, referring to the small slates or cards used for recording financial accounts. To keep tabs on a matter was to maintain a physical tally on such a slate, ensuring the ledger remained accurate. The idiom emerged into wider usage in the late 1800s, retaining the sense of monitoring a shifting total or a person’s movements as one might track a running debt.
- 01
cobbler, keep to your last
One should not criticise matters outside one's field of expertise; one should mind one's business.
- 02
earn one's keep
To perform satisfactory physical labor or to provide other worthy services in return for remuneration, lodging, or other benefits; to support oneself financially.
- 03
gift that keeps on giving
Something with continuous (typically positive) consequences.
- 04
keep a civil tongue in one's head
To maintain a polite manner of speaking.
- 05
keep a close watch
to pay careful attention to a situation or a thing, so that you can deal with any changes or problems.
- 06
keep a cool head
To keep one's cool; to stay calm.
- 07
keep a lid on
To keep something secret.
- 08
keep a low profile
To be discreet and quiet.
Last updated August 10, 2026