keep back
phr. v..phr. v.. to stay at a distance from something or to prevent someone from moving forward. You also use it when you do not share all the information you have.
phr. v.. to maintain a physical distance from a hazard or boundary; also used transitively to mean withholding information or a portion of something.
Please keep back from the edge of the platform.
The police told the crowd to keep back while the firefighters worked to put out the blaze.
The witness seemed to be keeping something back during the initial interview, though his reasons for withholding the details remained unclear.
often used as an imperative in physical contexts or with an object when referring to information.
distinguish between the literal physical meaning and the figurative meaning of withholding information; the latter is a common synonym for 'hold back'.
The barrier keeps back them.The barrier keeps them back.when using a pronoun as the object in the transitive sense, it must go between the verb and the particle.