keep Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the financial means whereby one lives
    living; support; livelihood; bread and butter; sustenance.
    • each child was expected to pay for their keep
    • he applied to the state for support
    • he could no longer earn his own livelihood
  2. noun the main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress
    dungeon; donjon.
  3. noun a cell in a jail or prison
    hold.
  4. verb keep in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., "keep clean"
    hold; maintain.
    • hold in place
    • She always held herself as a lady
    • The students keep me on my toes
  5. verb continue a certain state, condition, or activity
    go along; continue; proceed; go on.
    • Keep on working!
    • We continued to work into the night
    • Keep smiling
    • We went on working until well past midnight
  6. verb retain possession of
    hold on.
    • Can I keep my old stuffed animals?
    • She kept her maiden name after she married
  7. verb stop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state
    prevent.
    • We must prevent the cancer from spreading
    • His snoring kept me from falling asleep
    • Keep the child from eating the marbles
  8. verb conform one's action or practice to
    observe.
    • keep appointments
    • she never keeps her promises
    • We kept to the original conditions of the contract
  9. verb stick to correctly or closely
    observe; maintain.
    • The pianist kept time with the metronome
    • keep count
    • I cannot keep track of all my employees
  10. verb look after; be the keeper of; have charge of
    • He keeps the shop when I am gone
  11. verb maintain by writing regular records
    maintain.
    • keep a diary
    • maintain a record
    • keep notes
  12. verb supply with room and board
    • He is keeping three women in the guest cottage
    • keep boarders
  13. verb allow to remain in a place or position or maintain a property or feature
    retain; continue; keep on.
    • We cannot continue several servants any longer
    • She retains a lawyer
    • The family's fortune waned and they could not keep their household staff
    • Our grant has run out and we cannot keep you on
    • We kept the work going as long as we could
    • She retained her composure
    • this garment retains its shape even after many washings
  14. verb supply with necessities and support
    maintain; sustain.
    • She alone sustained her family
    • The money will sustain our good cause
    • There's little to earn and many to keep
  15. verb fail to spoil or rot
    stay fresh.
    • These potatoes keep for a long time
  16. verb behave as expected during of holidays or rites
    observe; celebrate.
    • Keep the commandments
    • celebrate Christmas
    • Observe Yom Kippur
  17. verb keep under control; keep in check
    keep back; restrain; hold back.
    • suppress a smile
    • Keep your temper
    • keep your cool
  18. verb maintain in safety from injury, harm, or danger
    preserve.
    • May God keep you
  19. verb raise
    • She keeps a few chickens in the yard
    • he keeps bees
  20. verb retain rights to
    save; hold open; keep open.
    • keep my job for me while I give birth
    • keep my seat, please
    • keep open the possibility of a merger
  21. verb store or keep customarily
    • Where do you keep your gardening tools?
  22. verb have as a supply
    • I always keep batteries in the freezer
    • keep food for a week in the pantry
    • She keeps a sixpack and a week's worth of supplies in the refrigerator
  23. verb maintain for use and service
    maintain.
    • I keep a car in the countryside
    • She keeps an apartment in Paris for her shopping trips
  24. verb hold and prevent from leaving
    • The student was kept after school
  25. verb prevent (food) from rotting
    preserve.
    • preserved meats
    • keep potatoes fresh

WordNet

Keep transitive verb
Etymology
OE. kpen, AS.cpan to keep, regard, desire, await, take, betake; cf. AS. copenere lover, OE. copnien to desire.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Kept ; present participle & verbal noun Keeping
Definitions
  1. To care; to desire. Obs.
    I kepe not of armes for to yelp [boast]. Chaucer.
  2. To hold; to restrain from departure or removal; not to let go of; to retain in one's power or possession; not to lose; to retain; to detain.
    If we lose the field, We can not keep the town. Shak.
    That I may know what keeps me here with you. Dryden.
    If we would weigh and keep in our minds what we are considering, that would instruct us. Locke.
  3. To cause to remain in a given situation or condition; to maintain unchanged; to hold or preserve in any state or tenor.
    His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal. Milton.
    Keep a stiff rein, and move but gently on. Addison.
    ✍ In this sense it is often used with prepositions and adverbs, as to keep away, to keep down, to keep from, to keep in, out, or off, etc. "To keep off impertinence and solicitation from his superior." Addison.
  4. To have in custody; to have in some place for preservation; to take charge of.
    The crown of Stephanus, first king of Hungary, was always kept in the castle of Vicegrade. Knolles.
  5. To preserve from danger, harm, or loss; to guard.
    Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee. Gen. xxviii. 15.
  6. To preserve from discovery or publicity; not to communicate, reveal, or betray, as a secret.
    Great are thy virtues . . . though kept from man. Milton.
  7. To attend upon; to have the care of; to tend.
    And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it. Gen. ii. 15.
    In her girlish age, she kept sheep on the moor. Carew.
  8. To record transactions, accounts, or events in; as, to keep books, a journal, etc. ; also, to enter (as accounts, records, etc. ) in a book.
  9. To maintain, as an establishment, institution, or the like; to conduct; to manage; as, to keep store.
    Like a pedant that keeps a school. Shak.
    Every one of them kept house by himself. Hayward.
  10. To supply with necessaries of life; to entertain; as, to keep boarders.
  11. To have in one's service; to have and maintain, as an assistant, a servant, a mistress, a horse, etc.
    I keep but three men and a boy. Shak.
  12. To have habitually in stock for sale.
  13. To continue in, as a course or mode of action; not to intermit or fall from; to hold to; to maintain; as, to keep silence; to keep one's word; to keep possession.
    Both day and night did we keep company. Shak.
    Within this portal as I kept my watch. Smollett.
  14. To observe; to adhere to; to fulfill; not to swerve from or violate; to practice or perform, as duty; not to neglect; to be faithful to.
    I have kept the faith. 2 Tim. iv. 7.
    Him whom to love is to obey, and keep His great command. Milton.
  15. To confine one's self to; not to quit; to remain in; as, to keep one's house, room, bed, etc. ; hence, to haunt; to frequent. Shak.
    'Tis hallowed ground; Fairies, and fawns, and satyrs do it keep. J. Fletcher.
  16. To observe duty, as a festival, etc. ; to celebrate; to solemnize; as, to keep a feast.
    I went with them to the house of God . . . with a multitude that kept holyday. Ps. xlii. 4.
    Locke. Syn. -- To retain; detain; reserve; preserve; hold; restrain; maintain; sustain; support; withhold. -- To Keep. Retain, Preserve. Keep is the generic term, and is often used where retain or preserve would too much restrict the meaning; as, to keep silence, etc. Retain denotes that we keep or hold things, as against influences which might deprive us of them, or reasons which might lead us to give them up; as, to retain vivacity in old age; to retain counsel in a lawsuit; to retain one's servant after a reverse of fortune. Preserve denotes that we keep a thing against agencies which might lead to its being destroyed or broken in upon; as, to preserve one's health; to preserve appearances.
Keep intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To remain in any position or state; to continue; to abide; to stay; as, to keep at a distance; to keep aloft; to keep near; to keep in the house; to keep before or behind; to keep in favor; to keep out of company, or out reach.
  2. To last; to endure; to remain unimpaired.
    If the malt be not thoroughly dried, the ale it makes will not keep. Mortimer.
  3. To reside for a time; to lodge; to dwell. Now disused except locally or colloquially.
    Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps. Shak.
  4. To take care; to be solicitous; to watch. Obs.
    Keep that the lusts choke not the word of God that is in us. Tyndale.
  5. To be in session; as, school keeps to-day. Colloq.
Keep noun
Definitions
  1. The act or office of keeping; custody; guard; care; heed; charge. Chaucer.
    Pan, thou god of shepherds all, Which of our tender lambkins takest keep. Spenser.
  2. The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case; as, to be in good keep.
  3. The means or provisions by which one is kept; maintenance; support; as, the keep of a horse.
    Grass equal to the keep of seven cows. Carlyle.
    I performed some services to the college in return for my keep. T. Hughes.
  4. That which keeps or protects; a stronghold; a fortress; a castle; specifically, the strongest and securest part of a castle, often used as a place of residence by the lord of the castle, especially during a siege; the donjon. See Illust. of Castle.
    The prison strong, Within whose keep the captive knights were laid. Dryden.
    The lower chambers of those gloomy keeps. Hallam.
    I think . . . the keep, or principal part of a castle, was so called because the lord and his domestic circle kept, abode, or lived there. M. A. Lower.
  5. That which is kept in charge; a charge. Obs.
    Often he used of his keep A sacrifice to bring. Spenser.
  6. (Mach.) A cap for retaining anything, as a journal box, in place.

Webster 1913