“Keep something under wraps” means to keep it secret or concealed from public knowledge. This guide explains the established current sense without promoting an unsupported origin story.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionPhrases & Idioms
Quick answer
It means to keep something secret or hidden from public knowledge.
Key details
Canonical Formkeep something under wraps
Core Meaningto keep something secret or prevent it from becoming publicly known
Further guidance
History Boundary
This guide establishes the current documented meaning and does not claim an exact inventor, coinage date, or absolute first use.
Meaning
To keep something secret or prevent it from becoming publicly known.
Usage Boundary
Use the expression in contexts matching the documented figurative meaning rather than treating a plausible origin story as established fact.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
To keep your cards close to your chest is to keep your plans or intentions secret. The metaphor is transparently connected with concealing a hand of playing cards, but exact dating is uncertain. The reviewed history source explicitly warns that popular 1860s-origin claims lack citations and treats mid-twentieth-century figurative evidence as the safer documentary floor.
“Under the radar” means attracting little notice, attention, or detection. Context determines whether that low visibility is deliberate or simply the result of being overlooked.
“Under your nose” can describe something in an obvious nearby place and can also emphasize that something happened openly without being noticed or prevented. This guide keeps those current senses separate from origin speculation.
“Behind closed doors” describes something done privately, secretly, or without public observation. The page distinguishes that current meaning from any unsupported story about the phrase’s exact origin.
“Black box” can refer literally to recording equipment and figuratively to an opaque system whose internal operation is not visible or understood. This guide focuses on the documented opaque-system sense without asserting unsupported origin chronology.
“Caught red-handed” means discovered in the act of doing something wrong or illegal. The expression is stronger than saying someone is merely suspected, because it centers on being found during the wrongdoing.
“Fine print” refers to small-print terms or details that may contain important conditions; Cambridge notes that “small print” is the usual UK expression. The guide stays with current documented meaning and does not add unsupported origin chronology.
“Hear It Through the Grapevine” means to learn information through an unofficial, informal chain of people. This guide publishes the current dictionary-supported idiomatic meaning and keeps exact origin, inventor, coinage, and absolute first-use claims unpublished without chronology-grade evidence.
