keeping

[ kee-ping ]
See synonyms for keeping on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. agreement or conformity in things or elements associated together: His actions are not in keeping with his words.

  2. the act of a person or thing that keeps; observance, custody, or care.

  1. maintenance or keep.

  2. holding, reserving, or retaining.

Origin of keeping

1
First recorded in 1250–1300, keeping is from the Middle English word keping.See keep, -ing1

synonym study For keeping

2. See custody.

Other words for keeping

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use keeping in a sentence

  • Whether 'findings' of this sort could, morally speaking, be considered 'keepings,' was a point that did not occur to me.

    The Golden Age | Kenneth Grahame
  • If the good old rule of findings is keepings applied to monarchs it certainly applied to Boy Scouts.

    Pee-Wee Harris Adrift | Percy Keese Fitzhugh
  • You're not meant to shove your oar into people's private cat-keepings.

  • She was making ready to go out, and she found her purse and counted its keepings.

    The Helpers | Francis Lynde
  • "Open my hand, and findings shall be keepings," bade the old man.

    The Long Dim Trail | Forrestine C. Hooker

British Dictionary definitions for keeping

keeping

/ (ˈkiːpɪŋ) /


noun
  1. conformity or harmony (esp in the phrases in or out of keeping)

  2. charge or care: valuables in the keeping of a bank

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012