[Origin: bef. 1000; ME kepen, OE cépan to observe, heed, watch, await, take; perh. akin to OE gecōp proper, fitting, capian to look, ON kōpa to stare]
—Related forms
keep·a·ble, adjective
keep·a·bil·i·ty, noun
—Synonyms 1.Keep,reserve,retain,withhold refer to having and holding in possession. Keep (a common word) and retain (a more formal one) agree in meaning to continue to have or hold, as opposed to losing, parting with, or giving up: to keep a book for a week. To reserve is to keep for some future use, occasion, or recipient, or to hold back for a time: to reserve judgment. To withhold is generally to hold back altogether: to withhold help. 6. preserve. 8. detain, confine. 41. donjon, dungeon, stronghold.
To retain possession of: kept the change; must keep your composure.
To have as a supply: keep an ax in the shed.
To provide (a family, for example) with maintenance and support: "There's little to earn and many to keep"(Charles Kingsley).
To support (a mistress or lover) financially.
To supply with room and board for a charge: keep boarders.
To raise: keep chickens.
To maintain records in: keep a yearly diary.
To enter (data) in a book: keep financial records.
To detain: was kept after school.
To restrain: kept the child away from the stove; kept the crowd back with barriers.
To prevent or deter: tried to keep the ice from melting.
To refrain from divulging: keep a secret.
To save; reserve: keep extra money for emergencies.
To put customarily; store: Where do you keep your saw?
To supply with room and board for a charge: keep boarders.
To raise: keep chickens.
To maintain records in: keep a yearly diary.
To enter (data) in a book: keep financial records.
To detain: was kept after school.
To restrain: kept the child away from the stove; kept the crowd back with barriers.
To prevent or deter: tried to keep the ice from melting.
To refrain from divulging: keep a secret.
To save; reserve: keep extra money for emergencies.
To maintain for use or service: an urbanite who didn't keep a car.
To manage, tend, or have charge of: Keep the shop while I'm away.
To preserve (food).
To cause to continue in a state, condition, or course of action: tried to keep the patient calm.
To maintain records in: keep a yearly diary.
To enter (data) in a book: keep financial records.
To detain: was kept after school.
To restrain: kept the child away from the stove; kept the crowd back with barriers.
To prevent or deter: tried to keep the ice from melting.
To refrain from divulging: keep a secret.
To save; reserve: keep extra money for emergencies.
To detain: was kept after school.
To restrain: kept the child away from the stove; kept the crowd back with barriers.
To prevent or deter: tried to keep the ice from melting.
To refrain from divulging: keep a secret.
To save; reserve: keep extra money for emergencies.
To adhere or conform to; follow: keep late hours.
To be faithful to; fulfill: keep one's word.
To celebrate; observe.
v.
intr.
To remain in a state or condition; stay: keep in line; keep quiet; kept well.
To continue to do: keep on talking; keep guessing.
To remain fresh or unspoiled: The dessert won't keep.
To restrain oneself; hold oneself back: I couldn't keep from eavesdropping.
n.
Care; charge: The child is in my keep for the day.
The means by which one is supported: earn one's keep.
The stronghold of a castle.
A jail.
To persevere in; carry on: We asked her to stop talking, but she kept it up.
To preserve or sustain: kept up the appearance of friendship.
To prevent from growing, accomplishing, or succeeding: keep the revolutionaries down.
To hold under control or at a reduced level: Keep your voice down.
To refrain from vomiting: Although seasick, I managed to keep my food down.
To maintain in good condition: kept up the property.
To persevere in; carry on: We asked her to stop talking, but she kept it up.
To preserve or sustain: kept up the appearance of friendship.
To continue at the same level or pace: The snow kept up all day.
To continue to pay off (a financial obligation).
To match one's competitors, colleagues, or neighbors in success or lifestyle: couldn't keep up with his friends who went into business.
To remain adequately informed: loved to keep up on the gossip.
Phrasal Verb(s): keep at
To persevere in work or an action.
keep down
To prevent from growing, accomplishing, or succeeding: keep the revolutionaries down.
To hold under control or at a reduced level: Keep your voice down.
To refrain from vomiting: Although seasick, I managed to keep my food down.
keep off
To stay away from.
keep to
To adhere to: keep to the original purpose. keep up
To maintain in good condition: kept up the property.
To persevere in; carry on: We asked her to stop talking, but she kept it up.
To preserve or sustain: kept up the appearance of friendship.
To continue at the same level or pace: The snow kept up all day.
To continue to pay off (a financial obligation).
To match one's competitors, colleagues, or neighbors in success or lifestyle: couldn't keep up with his friends who went into business.
To remain adequately informed: loved to keep up on the gossip.
Idiom(s):
for keeps
For an indefinitely long period: gave the ring to me for keeps.
Seriously and permanently: We're separating for keeps.
Idiom(s):
keep an eye on
To watch over attentively; mind.
To watch closely or carefully: keep your eye on the ball.
Idiom(s):
keep an eye out
To be watchful.
Idiom(s):
keep a stiff upper lip
To be courageous or stoic in the face of adversity.
Idiom(s):
keep company
To carry on a courtship: a couple who kept company but never married.
To socialize or associate: keeps company with some tough thugs.
Idiom(s):
keep (one's) chin up
To be stalwart, courageous, or optimistic in the face of difficulty.
Idiom(s):
keep (one's) eyes open/peeled
To be on the lookout.
Idiom(s):
keep (one's) nose clean Informal
To stay out of trouble.
Idiom(s):
keep pace
To stay even with others, as in a contest.
Idiom(s):
keep (someone) company
To accompany or remain with.
Idiom(s):
keep the wolf from the door
To avoid the privation and suffering resulting from a lack of money: Both spouses had to work in order to keep the wolf from the door.
Idiom(s):
keep time
To indicate the correct time.
Music To maintain the tempo or rhythm.
Idiom(s):
keep to (oneself)
To shun the company of others: She kept to herself all morning.
To refrain from divulging: He kept the news to himself.
[Middle English kepen, from Old English cēpan, to observe, seize.]
Synonyms: These verbs mean to have and maintain in one's possession or control. Keep is the most general: We received a few offers but decided to keep the house. Retain means to continue to hold, especially in the face of possible loss: Though unhappy, he retained his sense of humor. Withhold implies reluctance or refusal to give, grant, or allow: The tenant withheld his rent until the owner fixed the boiler.
To reserve is to hold back for the future or for a special purpose: The farmer reserved two acres for an orchard. See Also Synonyms at observe.
Keep\ (k[=e]p), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Kept; p. pr. & vb. n. Keeping.] [OE. k?pen, AS. c?pan to keep, regard, desire, await, take, betake; cf. AS. copenere lover, OE. copnien to desire.]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. Note: 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. To keep at arm's length. See under Arm, n. To keep back. (a) To reserve; to withhold. "I will keep nothing back from you." --Jer. xlii. 4. (b) To restrain; to hold back. "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins." --Ps. xix. 13. To keep company with. (a) To frequent the society of; to associate with; as, let youth keep company with the wise and good. (b) To accompany; to go with; as, to keep company with one on a voyage; also, to pay court to, or accept attentions from, with a view to marriage. [Colloq.] To keep counsel. See under Counsel, n. To keep down. (a) To hold in subjection; to restrain; to hinder. (b) (Fine Arts) To subdue in tint or tone, as a portion of a picture, so that the spectator's attention may not be diverted from the more important parts of the work. To keep good (or bad) hours, to be customarily early (or late) in returning home or in retiring to rest. -- To keep house. (a) To occupy a separate house or establishment, as with one's family, as distinguished from boarding; to manage domestic affairs. (b) (Eng. Bankrupt Law) To seclude one's self in one's house in order to evade the demands of creditors. -- To keep one's hand in, to keep in practice. -- To keep open house, to be hospitable. -- To keep the peace (Law), to avoid or to prevent a breach of the peace. -- To keep school, to govern, manage and instruct or teach a school, as a preceptor. -- To keep a stiff upper lip, to keep up one's courage. [Slang] -- To keep term. (a) (Eng. Universities) To reside during a term. (b) (Inns of Court) To eat a sufficient number of dinners in hall to make the term count for the purpose of being called to the bar. [Eng.] --Mozley & W. To keep touch. See under Touch, n. To keep under, to hold in subjection; hence, to oppress. To keep up. (a) To maintain; to prevent from falling or diminution; as, to keep up the price of goods; to keep up one's credit. (b) To maintain; to continue; to prevent from ceasing. "In joy, that which keeps up the action is the desire to continue it." --Locke. Syn: To retain; detain; reserve; preserve; hold; restrain; maintain; sustain; support; withhold. -- To Keep. Usage: 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.
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