Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Synonyms
Nearby Words

keep tabs on

 - 9 dictionary results

keep

  [keep] verb, kept, keep⋅ing, noun
Use keep tabs on in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to hold or retain in one's possession; hold as one's own: If you like it, keep it. Keep the change.
2. to hold or have the use of for a period of time: You can keep it for the summer.
3. to hold in a given place; store: You can keep your things in here.
4. to maintain (some action), esp. in accordance with specific requirements, a promise, etc.: to keep watch; to keep step.
5. to cause to continue in a given position, state, course, or action: to keep a light burning; to keep a child happy.
6. to maintain in condition or order, as by care and labor: He keeps his car in good condition.
7. to maintain in usable or edible condition; preserve: If you want to keep meat for a long time, freeze it.
8. to hold in custody or under guard, as a prisoner: They kept him in jail.
9. to cause to stay in a particular place; prevent or restrain from departure: The work kept her at the office.
10. to have regularly in stock and for sale: to keep a large supply of machine parts.
11. to maintain in one's service or for one's use or enjoyment: to keep a car and chauffeur.
12. to associate with: She keeps bad company.
13. to have the care, charge, or custody of: She keeps my dog when I travel.
14. to refrain from disclosing; withhold from the knowledge of others: to keep a secret.
15. to withhold from use; reserve; save: I'll keep this toy until you learn to behave. Keep the good wine for company.
16. to hold back or restrain: They kept the child from talking. Nothing can keep him from doing it.
17. to maintain control of; regulate: to keep the peace; to keep your temper.
18. to maintain by writing: to keep a diary.
19. to record (business transactions, daily occurrences, etc.) regularly: to keep records; to keep a list of visitors.
20. to observe; pay obedient regard to (a law, rule, promise, etc.).
21. to conform to; follow; fulfill: to keep one's word.
22. to observe (a season, festival, etc.) with formalities or rites: to keep Christmas.
23. to maintain or carry on, as an establishment, business, etc.; manage.
24. to guard; protect: He kept her from harm.
25. to maintain or support: It costs more each year to keep a house.
26. to support or contribute to the support of in return for sexual or other favors.
27. to take care of; tend: to keep a vegetable garden.
28. to raise (livestock): These farmers keep goats and cattle.
29. to remain in (a place, spot, etc.): Please keep your seats.
30. to maintain one's position in or on: He kept the job.
31. to continue to follow (a path, track, course, etc.).
32. to maintain in active existence, as an assembly, court, or fair.
–verb (used without object)
33. to continue in an action, course, position, state, etc.: to keep in sight; to keep going.
34. to remain, or continue to be, as specified: to keep cool.
35. to remain or stay in a particular place: to keep indoors.
36. to continue unimpaired or without spoiling: The food will keep on ice.
37. to admit of being reserved for a future occasion: I have more to tell you, but it will keep.
38. to keep oneself or itself as specified (fol. by away, back, off, out, etc.): Keep off the grass.
39. to restrain oneself; refrain (usually fol. by from): Try to keep from smiling.
–noun
40. board and lodging; subsistence; support: to work for one's keep.
41. the innermost and strongest structure or central tower of a medieval castle.
42. keeps, (used with a singular verb) a game of marbles in which the players keep the marbles they have won.
—Verb phrases
43. keep at, to persist in; be steadfast: You'll never master your French unless you keep at it.
44. keep back,
a. to hold in check; restrain: The dikes kept back the floodwaters.
b. to stay away from: The crowds would not keep back from the barrier.
c. to refuse to reveal: The prisoner was keeping back vital information.
45. keep down,
a. to hold under control or at a reduced or acceptable level: to keep your voice down.
b. to prevent from going up or increasing: to keep prices down.
46. keep in with, to stay in someone's favor; be on good terms with: They are social climbers who make certain to keep in with all the right people.
47. keep on, to continue; persist: If you keep on singing they'll ask you to leave.
48. keep to,
a. to adhere to; conform to: She keeps to the rules.
b. to confine oneself to: to keep to one's bed.
49. keep up,
a. to maintain an equal rate of speed, activity, or progress with another or others.
b. to persevere; continue.
c. to maintain the good condition of; keep in repair.
d. Also, keep up on or with. to stay informed: to keep up on current events.
e. to match one's friends, neighbors, business associates, etc., in success, affluence, etc.
—Idioms
50. for keeps, Informal.
a. under the stipulation that one keeps one's winnings.
b. with serious intent or purpose.
c. finally; permanently: They decided to settle the argument for keeps.
51. keep books, to maintain financial records.
52. keep tab or tabs on. tab 1 (def. 14).
53. keep time. time (def. 50).
54. keep to oneself,
a. to remain aloof from the society of others.
b. to hold (something) as secret or confidential: I'll tell you only if you promise to keep it to yourself.
55. keep track of. track (def. 38).
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME kepen, OE cēpan 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.

Antonyms:
8. release.

tab

1  [tab] noun, verb, tabbed, tab⋅bing.
–noun
1. a small flap, strap, loop, or similar appendage, as on a garment, used for pulling, hanging, or decoration.
2. a tag or label.
3. a small projection from a card, paper, or folder, used as an aid in filing.
4. Informal. a bill, as for a meal in a restaurant; check.
5. a small piece attached or intended to be attached, as to an automobile license plate.
6. a small flap or tongue of material used to seal or close the opening of a container.
7. Also called tabulator. a stop on a typewriter, actuated by a key, that moves the carriage, typing element, etc., a predetermined number of spaces, used for typing material in columns, for fixed indentations, etc.
8. a programmed command on a computer, actuated by a key, that moves the cursor or printhead a predetermined number of spaces, used for keying material in columns, for fixed indentations, etc.
9. Theater.
a. a small, often narrow, drop curtain, for masking part of the stage.
b. tableau curtain.
10. Aeronautics. a small airfoil hinged to the rear portion of a control surface, as to an elevator, aileron, or rudder. Compare trim tab.
–verb (used with object)
11. to furnish or ornament with a tab or tabs.
12. to name or designate.
–verb (used without object)
13. Also, tabulate. to operate the tab function on a typewriter or computer.
—Idiom
14. keep tabs or tab on, Informal. to keep an account of; check on; observe: The police kept tabs on the suspect's activities.
Origin:
1600–10; (in defs. 1–3, 5) < ?; (in defs. 7 and 8) short for tabulator; (in def. 9) short for tableau; (in defs. 4 and 14) partly from shortening of table, partly in sense of def. 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To keep tabs on
tab 2   (tāb)   
n.  

  1. Informal

    1. A bill or check, such as one for a meal in a restaurant.

    2. Cost; price: The tab for upgrading the computers would be high.

    3. A key on a computer keyboard that, when pressed, inserts a special ASCII character used for formatting text, as in indenting a line or block of text.

    4. This special ASCII character.

  2. A tabulator on a typewriter.

  3. Computer Science

    1. A key on a computer keyboard that, when pressed, inserts a special ASCII character used for formatting text, as in indenting a line or block of text.

    2. This special ASCII character.

intr.v.   tabbed, tab·bing, tabs
To press the tab on a typewriter or computer keyboard: Tab over to the next column.

[Short for tablet or tabulation. Sense 2, short for tabulator.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
tab

  1. n.
    a bill (for something). (From tabulation. See also chit.) : Marlowe paid the tab and left quietly.
  2. n.
    a tablet (of medicine). : Take a couple of aspirin tabs and call me in the morning.
  3. tv.
    to identify someone. : I couldn't quite tab her, but when she started talking I knew right away who she was.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

keep  (v.)
late O.E. cepan "to seize, hold," also "to observe," from P.Gmc. *kopijanan, but with no certain connection to other languages. It possibly is related to O.E. capian "to look," from P.Gmc. *kap- (cepan was used c.1000 to render L. observare), which would make the basic sense "to keep an eye on."
"The word prob. belongs primarily to the vulgar and non-literary stratum of the language; but it comes up suddenly into literary use c.1000, and that in many senses, indicating considerable previous development." [OED]
Meaning "financially support and privately control" (usually in ref. to mistresses) is from 1560. The noun meaning "innermost stronghold of a tower" is from 1586, perhaps a translation of It. tenazza, with a notion of "that which keeps" (someone or something); the sense of "food required to keep a person or animal" is attested from 1801. Keepsake is first recorded 1790, on model of namesake; thus an object kept for the sake of the giver. For keeps "completely, for good" is Amer.Eng. colloquial, from 1861. Keeper "one who has charge of some person or thing, warden" is from c.1300; sense of "one who carries on some business" is from c.1440.

tab  (1)
"small flap," 1607, possibly a dialectal word, of uncertain origin. Often interchangeable with tag (1). The verb meaning "to designate, label" is 1924, perhaps an alteration of tag (1).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Financial Dictionary

TAB

See tax anticipation bill.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: tab
Pronunciation: 'tab
Function: noun
: TABLET
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Idioms & Phrases

keep tabs on

Observe carefully, keep a record of. For example, I hate having my boss keep tabs on my every move, or We've got to keep tabs on outgoing mail so we can keep track of postage. This expression uses to tab in the sense of "an account." [Late 1800s] Also see keep track.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see keep tabs on on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way