keep tabs on

Definition

To monitor; to keep track of; to watch.

Etymology

See tab (“tablet or slate used for keeping a record of accounts”).

Example Sentences

• "If you are careful to keep tabs on your finances, you should be able to stay within a budget."
• "The police kept close tabs on him during the holidays."
• "He might have spent the hours camped under the trees of the more remote meadow, whence in the brilliant moonlight he could keep tabs on the trails."