keep one's counsel

Definitions

1. 1

   To keep one's own business private

   To keep one's own business private; to be careful, circumspect, or discreet in what one says concerning one's own deeds, situation, or thoughts.

   • As he held his mother to him, he longed to tell her all, but he kept his counsel.
   • [Ruhollah] Khomeini's approach to decision making is to keep his counsel at first, allowing the advocates of different options to debate issues openly.
2. 2

   To keep a secret for someone else

   To keep a secret for someone else; to be careful, circumspect, or discreet in what one says concerning someone else's deeds, situation, or thoughts.

   • Standish will keep our counsel, and the news will be old before it's known.

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