"keep one's head on a swivel" meaning in All languages combined

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "keeps one's head on a swivel",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "keeping one's head on a swivel",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kept one's head on a swivel",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kept one's head on a swivel",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "keep<,,kept> one's head on a swivel"
      },
      "expansion": "keep one's head on a swivel (third-person singular simple present keeps one's head on a swivel, present participle keeping one's head on a swivel, simple past and past participle kept one's head on a swivel)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2004, Will Ferrell, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, spoken by Rob Burgundy (Will Ferrell), Apatow Productions; distributed by DreamWorks Pictures",
          "text": "You all kept your head on a swivel and that's what you gotta do when you find yourself in a vicious cock fight.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021, Polo G (lyrics and music), “Black Hearted”, in Hall of Fame",
          "text": "Head on a swivel, opposition like a block away",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017, Keesha Middlemass, “Unwelcome Homecoming”, in Convicted and Condemned: The Politics and Policies of Prisoner Reentry, page 65",
          "text": "\"Reentering is about keeping your head on a swivel. Ya gotta keep your head on a swivel, I'm telling ya, because you don't know what's coming, where it's coming from.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "(intransitive, idiomatic, (with \"for\")) To be on the alert, to be watchful.",
        "To be on the alert, to be watchful."
      ],
      "id": "en-keep_one's_head_on_a_swivel-en-verb-IQJOuA~3",
      "links": [
        [
          "on the alert",
          "on the alert"
        ],
        [
          "watchful",
          "watchful"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "(with \"for\")",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, idiomatic, (with \"for\")) To be on the alert, to be watchful."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "sense": "to be watchful",
          "word": "keep an eye out"
        },
        {
          "sense": "to be watchful",
          "word": "keep one's eyes open"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "keep one's head on a swivel"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "keeps one's head on a swivel",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "keeping one's head on a swivel",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kept one's head on a swivel",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kept one's head on a swivel",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "keep<,,kept> one's head on a swivel"
      },
      "expansion": "keep one's head on a swivel (third-person singular simple present keeps one's head on a swivel, present participle keeping one's head on a swivel, simple past and past participle kept one's head on a swivel)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2004, Will Ferrell, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, spoken by Rob Burgundy (Will Ferrell), Apatow Productions; distributed by DreamWorks Pictures",
          "text": "You all kept your head on a swivel and that's what you gotta do when you find yourself in a vicious cock fight.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021, Polo G (lyrics and music), “Black Hearted”, in Hall of Fame",
          "text": "Head on a swivel, opposition like a block away",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017, Keesha Middlemass, “Unwelcome Homecoming”, in Convicted and Condemned: The Politics and Policies of Prisoner Reentry, page 65",
          "text": "\"Reentering is about keeping your head on a swivel. Ya gotta keep your head on a swivel, I'm telling ya, because you don't know what's coming, where it's coming from.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "(intransitive, idiomatic, (with \"for\")) To be on the alert, to be watchful.",
        "To be on the alert, to be watchful."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "on the alert",
          "on the alert"
        ],
        [
          "watchful",
          "watchful"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "(with \"for\")",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, idiomatic, (with \"for\")) To be on the alert, to be watchful."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "to be watchful",
      "word": "keep an eye out"
    },
    {
      "sense": "to be watchful",
      "word": "keep one's eyes open"
    }
  ],
  "word": "keep one's head on a swivel"
}