keep

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  "'I will keep these on,' he said to the shopkeeper."
• WordNet 3.6
  • v keep prevent (food) from rotting "preserved meats","keep potatoes fresh"
  • v keep stick to correctly or closely "The pianist kept time with the metronome","keep count","I cannot keep track of all my employees"
  • v keep maintain by writing regular records "keep a diary","maintain a record","keep notes"
  • v keep supply with necessities and support "She alone sustained her family","The money will sustain our good cause","There's little to earn and many to keep"
  • v keep hold and prevent from leaving "The student was kept after school"
  • v keep retain possession of "Can I keep my old stuffed animals?","She kept her maiden name after she married"
  • v keep look after; be the keeper of; have charge of "He keeps the shop when I am gone"
  • v keep maintain for use and service "I keep a car in the countryside","She keeps an apartment in Paris for her shopping trips"
  • v keep 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"
  • v keep store or keep customarily "Where do you keep your gardening tools?"
  • v keep retain rights to "keep my job for me while I give birth","keep my seat, please","keep open the possibility of a merger"
  • v keep allow to remain in a place or position or maintain a property or feature "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"
  • v keep keep under control; keep in check "suppress a smile","Keep your temper","keep your cool"
  • v keep stop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state "We must prevent the cancer from spreading","His snoring kept me from falling asleep","Keep the child from eating the marbles"
  • v keep behave as expected during of holidays or rites "Keep the commandments","celebrate Christmas","Observe Yom Kippur"
  • v keep conform one's action or practice to "keep appointments","she never keeps her promises","We kept to the original conditions of the contract"
  • v keep supply with room and board "He is keeping three women in the guest cottage","keep boarders"
  • v keep raise "She keeps a few chickens in the yard","he keeps bees"
  • v keep keep in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., "keep clean" "hold in place","She always held herself as a lady","The students keep me on my toes"
  • v keep continue a certain state, condition, or activity "Keep on working!","We continued to work into the night","Keep smiling","We went on working until well past midnight"
  • v keep maintain in safety from injury, harm, or danger "May God keep you"
  • v keep fail to spoil or rot "These potatoes keep for a long time"
  • n keep a cell in a jail or prison
  • n keep the main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress
  • n keep the financial means whereby one lives "each child was expected to pay for their keep","he applied to the state for support","he could no longer earn his own livelihood"
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Additional illustrations & photos:

Keep Away from the Banks for Fear The Banks Will Cave In 329

Keep your body steady

Keep a look-out for the carriages

THE MOON-CHILD MUST KEEP ON RUNNING ROUND HER. P. 11

Sainte-Susanne, Keep

Where the loveliest of all the parasol Madonnas keeps guard over the still lagoon

"Keep your head still"

"'KEEP STEP, RABBIT, MAN!'"

• Interesting fact: Pigs have no sweat glands, which is why they stay in water or mud to keep cool
• • Keep (Mach) A cap for retaining anything, as a journal box, in place.
  • Keep That which is kept in charge; a charge. "Often he used of his keep A sacrifice to bring."
  • Keep 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 dungeon. See Illust. of Castle. "The prison strong,
    Within whose keep the captive knights were laid.""The lower chambers of those gloomy keeps .""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."
  • Keep The act or office of keeping; custody; guard; care; heed; charge. "Pan, thou god of shepherds all,
    Which of our tender lambkins takest keep ."
  • Keep 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.""I performed some services to the college in return for my keep ."
  • Keep The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case; as, to be in good keep .
  • Keep 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.""In her girlish age, she kept sheep on the moor."
  • Keep To be in session; as, school keeps to-day.
  • Keep To care; to desire. "I kepe not of armes for to yelp [boast]."
  • Keep 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.""Keep a stiff rein, and move but gently on."
  • Keep 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. "'Tis hallowed ground;
    Fairies, and fawns, and satyrs do it keep ."
  • Keep 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.""Within this portal as I kept my watch."
  • Keep To have habitually in stock for sale.
  • Keep 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."
  • Keep 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."
  • Keep 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.""That I may know what keeps me here with you.""If we would weigh and keep in our minds what we are considering, that would instruct us."
  • Keep To last; to endure; to remain unimpaired. "If the malt be not thoroughly dried, the ale it makes will not keep ."
  • Keep To maintain, as an establishment, institution, or the like; to conduct; to manage; as, to keep store. "Like a pedant that keeps a school.""Every one of them kept house by himself."
  • Keep To observe duly, 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."
  • Keep 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.""Him whom to love is to obey, and keep His great command."
  • Keep To preserve from danger, harm, or loss; to guard. "Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee."
  • Keep To preserve from discovery or publicity; not to communicate, reveal, or betray, as a secret. "Great are thy virtues . . . though kept from man."
  • Keep To record transactions, accounts, or events in; as, to keep books, a journal, etc.; also, to enter (as accounts, records, etc. ) in a book.
  • Keep 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.
  • Keep To reside for a time; to lodge; to dwell. "Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps ."
  • Keep To supply with necessaries of life; to entertain; as, to keep boarders.
  • Keep To take care; to be solicitous; to watch. "Keep that the lusts choke not the word of God that is in us."
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• Interesting fact: In 1998, a law passed in the U.S. state of Virginia allows drivers to keep their road kill, as long as they report it within 12 hours
• • keep To observe; heed; regard; attend to; care for; be solicitous about.
  • keep To observe or carry out in practice; perform; fulfil: as, to keep the laws; to keep the sabbath-day; to keep one's word or promise.
  • keep To celebrate or observe with all due formalities or rites; solemnize: as, to keep Lent.
  • keep To hold; have or carry on: as, to keep court; to keep an act at a university.
  • keep To tend; care for; have the charge, oversight, or custody of.
  • keep To guard; protect; preserve; especially, to maintain inviolate or intact; preserve from danger, mishap, loss, decay, etc.: as, to keep the peace.
  • keep To retain or hold possession of; retain in one's own power or possession; continue to have, hold, or enjoy; retain: as, he got it to keep; to keep a thing in mind; to keep a secret; to keep one's own counsel.
  • keep To have habitually in stock or for sale.
  • keep To have habitually in attendance or use; employ or maintain in service, or for one's use or enjoyment: as, to keep three servants; to keep a horse and carriage.
  • keep To maintain; support; provide for; supply with whatever is needed.
  • keep To maintain or carry on, as an establishment, institution, business, etc.; conduct; manage: as, to keep a school or a hotel; to keep shop; to keep house.
  • keep To receive; go to meet; receive as a friend or guest.
  • keep To take in and provide for; entertain.
  • keep To hold; detain: as, what keeps him here?
  • keep To hold or hold back; restrain.
  • keep To continue, or continue to maintain or preserve, as a state or course of action: as, to keep the same road; to keep step.
  • keep To cause to be or continue in some specified state, condition, action, or course: as, to keep the coast clear; to keep things in order.
  • keep To stay or remain in; refrain from leaving: as, to keep the house; to keep one's bed.
  • keep To maintain habitually: same as keep up.
  • keep To scare away: same as keep off: as, to keep crows.
  • keep To maintain a regular record of or in; have or take charge of entering or making entries in: as, to keep accounts; to keep the books of a firm; to keep a diary.
  • keep To restrain; hold back.
  • keep In printing, to set in lower-case type, as a word or initial letter.
  • keep To conceal; avoid telling or disclosing.
  • keep To restrain; curb, as a horse.
  • keep To maintain; continue; prevent cessation of.
  • keep To maintain in good order or condition: as, to pay so much a year to keep up a grave.
  • keep Synonyms, etc. Keep, Retain, Reserve. Keep is a very general idiomatic word, meaning, in this relation, not to dispose of or part with; hold on to: as, to sell half and keep half. Retain covers the idea of not giving up where there is occasion or opportunity : as, to surrender on condition that the officers retain their side-arms. To reserve is to keep back at a time or in an act in which other things are given up; also, to keep back for a time: as, to reserve judgment.
  • keep Keep, Defend, Protect, Shelter, Preserve. Keep is the general word in this relation also. To defend is to keep by warding off attacks; the word does not so much imply success as the others do. To protect is to keep by covering from danger. To shelter is to keep by covering on one side, or on all sides, especially above, from exposure. Shelter seems figurative when not applied to keeping from exposure to the weather, and protect and defend when not applied to the physical. To preserve is in various senses to protect or keep from destruction or injury : as, to preserve forests, the bank of a river, fruit, vested rights, life, or one's dignity.
  • keep and Observe, Commemorate, etc. See celebrate.
  • keep To care; be solicitous.
  • keep To take care; be on the watch; be heedful.
  • keep To lodge; dwell; hold one's self, as in an abiding-place.
  • keep To keep one's self; remain; stay; continue: as, to keep at a distance; to keep in with some one; to keep out of sight; hence, in familiar speech, used with a present participle almost as an auxiliary of continuous or repeated action: as, he keeps moving; she kept crying out; they have kept asking for it this hour past.
  • keep To last; endure; continue unimpaired.
  • n keep Heed; notice; care.
  • n keep Custody; keeping; oversight.
  • n keep That which is kept or cared for; charge.
  • n keep The stronghold or citadel of a medieval castle; the innermost and strongest structure or central tower. It was the final dependence for keeping the castle against assault. In the lower parts of the structure prisoners werekept, with stores, etc.; and in the upper parts the family lived, especially in times of danger. Also called dungeon or donjon, dungeon-keep, or dungeon-tower. See dungeon, donjon.
  • n keep Subsistence; board and lodging; maintenance or means of subsistence: as, the keep of a horse.
  • n keep plural In coal-mining, wings, catches, or rests for holding the cage when it is brought to rest at some point, above the bottom of the shaft. See cage-shuts.
  • n keep A meat-safe.
  • n keep A large basket.
  • n keep A reservoir for fish by the side of a river.
  • keep In printing, to save (composed type) from distribution; also, to follow rigidly the capitals or other peculiarities of (manuscript copy).
  • keep In cricket, to act as stumper or wicket-keeper.
  • n keep In mech.: A cover to protect a part of a machine from injury.
  • n keep A chock; a stop; a block to prevent a piece from moving.
  • n keep On a locomotive, a part of the axle-bearing which is fitted below the journal of the axle and serves to hold an oiled pad against it to furnish constant lubrication.
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• Interesting fact: If you put a raisin in a glass of champagne, it will keep floating to the top and sinking to the bottom.
• • v.t Keep kēp to have the care of: to guard: to maintain: to manage: to have in one's service: to hold for one's own use or enjoyment: to remain in: to adhere to: to practise: not to lose: to maintain hold upon: to restrain from departure: to preserve in a certain state: to maintain: to fulfill
  • v.i Keep to remain in any position or state: to remain fresh: to last or endure: to continue: to adhere: to have rooms at college (Cambridge):—-pr.p. keep′ing; pa.t. and pa.p. kept
  • n Keep that which keeps or protects: subsistence: food: the innermost and strongest part of a castle, the donjon: a stronghold
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• Robert Louis Stevenson

  

  “Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.”
• Robert E. Lee

  

  “Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or to keep one.”
• Ronald Alan Weiss

  

  “Once you're moving you can keep moving.”
• William Shakespeare

  

  “To say the truth, reason and love keep little company together now-a-days.”
• Goodman Ace

  

  “I keep reading between the lies.”
• George Herbert

  

  “One sword keeps another in the sheath.”

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