keep in line

Questions about keep in line

What does keep in line mean?

keep in line means "maintain influence over (others or oneself) skillfully, usually to one's advantage".

What is another word for keep in line?

Close synonyms include manipulate, control. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is keep in line a common word?

keep in line is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.