keep vigil

phrase

: to stay in a place and quietly wait, pray, etc., for a period of time

She kept vigil at the bedside of her ailing son.

Examples of keep vigil in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But such bright spots are rare at the quake’s epicenter, where families keep vigil at search sites. — Juan Pablo Arraez, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2026

The giant stone figures that keep vigil across the windswept hills of Easter Island, more properly known as Rapa Nui. — Carl Hoffman, Washington Post, 30 Jan. 2026

He is isolated in his cell, for safety reasons, while two bodyguards keep vigil nearby. — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2025

Even so, Gittleson gently turned down the caller’s offer to keep vigil. — Karin Brulliard, Washington Post, 28 Apr. 2023

Only Ben, the youngest at 67, agreed to keep vigil with his 99-year-old father. — Washington Post, 30 Nov. 2022

On several occasions, the political refugee and activist Wafa Mustafa, 31, traveled from Berlin to Koblenz to keep vigil outside the courthouse. — New York Times, 25 Jan. 2022

Wake work means looking backward to keep vigil for the death lying in the wake and looking forward to the ship’s destination with hope and despair. — Lee M. Pierce, The Conversation, 5 Aug. 2021