within bounds

Idioms and Phrases

Reasonable and allowable, up to a certain point, as in It's all right to play your stereo, but please keep the volume within bounds . Like its antonym, out of bounds , this term originally referred to the boundaries of a playing area of field.

Example Sentences

Great as his interest in his subject might be, his ardor was held within bounds.

From Project Gutenberg

Never a branch will have to be shortened to keep it within bounds.

From Project Gutenberg

I noticed that he did not overstate anything, but spoke within bounds.

From Project Gutenberg

How easy, how very easy, it is to keep this kind of friendship—friendship between a man and a woman—within bounds!

From Project Gutenberg

When Glory has once fir'd a noble Soul, nothing can keep it within Bounds.

From Project Gutenberg