How to Use keep-away in a Sentence

keep-away

noun
  • Your job isn’t to play keep-away.
    — Jake Ciely, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025
  • This shouldn’t be a political game of keep-away.
    — Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 19 Oct. 2025
  • In a best-case scenario, Bedard and McKenna would play keep-away from the defense and set each other up for a plethora of shots.
    — Kalen Lumpkins, Chicago Tribune, 4 May 2026
  • Evergreen’s backline did the rest, with a clear second-half game plan to play keep-away from a Mullen team that was shut out despite dominating possession.
    — Luca Evans, Denver Post, 20 May 2026
  • The time-consuming field-goal drive translated into a game of keep-away from the Broncos, who managed only 7 yards of offense in the third quarter.
    — Mike Jones, New York Times, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Houston played keep-away over the second and third quarters outgaining the Titans 225-49 and outscoring them 16-0.
    — ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026
  • The Spaniards have taken the air out of the balls, played keep-away, erected a flawless defensive fortress, and hijacked tournament brackets from far more direct teams like France and England.
    — Filip Bondy, New York Daily News, 19 July 2026
  • Ragin Cajuns call a time out after multiple iterations of keep-away from the Longhorns who kept tipping the ball somehow into the hands of Louisiana.
    — Zoe Collins Rath, Austin American Statesman, 10 Nov. 2025
  • Packers play keep-away to build early lead Green Bay took command early by flipping the script on the Bears, who entered the day leading the NFL in average time of possession.
    — Matt Zahn, CBS News, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Tampa extended the lead to two goals two and a half minutes into the second, as Brayden Point and Kucherov played keep-away from Bobrovsky before Kucherov found the back of the next with his 14th of the season.
    — Adam H. Beasley, Miami Herald, 28 Dec. 2025
  • With Duke playing keep-away to prevent the Huskies from fouling, Cayden Boozer’s pass near midcourt was deflected, and after UConn came up with the ball, Demary made a shot from well behind the three-point line.
    — Senior Editor, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2026
  • With Duke playing keep-away to prevent the Huskies from fouling, Cayden Boozer’s pass near midcourt was deflected, and after UConn came up with the ball, Demary made a shot from well behind the 3-point line.
    — Noah Trister, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026
  • With Duke playing keep-away to prevent the Huskies from fouling, Cayden Boozer’s pass near midcourt was deflected by Demary, and after UConn came up with the ball, Mullins swished a 3 from 35 feet away.
    — Noah Trister, Baltimore Sun, 29 Mar. 2026
  • With Duke playing keep-away to prevent the Huskies from fouling, Cayden Boozer's pass near midcourt was deflected by Demary, and after UConn came up with the ball, Mullins swished a 3 from 35 feet away.
    — CBS News, 29 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'keep-away.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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