phrasal verb · neutral

keep under wraps

UK/kiːp ˈʌndə ˈræps/US/kiːp ˈʌndər ˈræps/keep·un·DER·wraps

task2speaking

to keep something secret or hidden from the public

Examples

The company kept details of the merger under wraps until the official announcement.

Please keep this surprise party under wraps until Saturday.

Researchers sometimes keep preliminary results under wraps until they are verified.

Band 8 sentence

To avoid speculation, the research team kept the preliminary findings under wraps until peer review was complete.

Collocations

  • keep news under wraps
  • keep plans under wraps

Word family

keep something under wraps / kept something under wraps / keeping something under wraps verb forms

Common mistakes

keep under wrapkeep under wraps

keep secret ofkeep secret / keep under wraps

Say it for a higher band

5hide6keep secret7+keep under wraps

Synonyms

keep secret

conceal

Easily confused

cover up

The government attempted to cover up the scandal.

Related words

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