Etimology
From Middle English kepen (“to keep, guard, look after, watch”), from Old English cēpan (“to seize, hold, observe”), from Proto-West Germanic *kōpijan, from Proto-Germanic *kōpijaną (“to look, heed, watch, observe”) (compare West Frisian kypje (“to look”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵab-, *ǵāb- (“to look after”) (compare Lithuanian žẽbti (“to eat reluctantly”), Russian забо́та (zabóta, “care, worry”)).
verb
keep (third-person singular simple present keeps, present participle keeping, simple past and past participle kept)
To continue in (a course or mode of action); to not intermit or fall from; to uphold or maintain.
To remain faithful to a given promise or word.
(transitive) To hold the status of something.
(intransitive) To hold or be held in a state.
(obsolete) To wait for, keep watch for.
(intransitive, cricket) To act as wicket-keeper.
(intransitive, obsolete) To take care; to be solicitous; to watch.
(intransitive, obsolete) To be in session; to take place.
(transitive) To observe; to adhere to; to fulfill; to not swerve from or violate.
(transitive, dated, by extension) To visit (a place) often; to frequent.
(transitive, dated) To observe or celebrate (a holiday).
Examples
to keep silence; to keep possession
to keep one's word; to keep one's promise
Synonym: fullfill
Both day and night did we keep company.
Within the Portal as I kept my Watch, / Swift gliding Shadows by the glimm'ring Moon, I could perceive in Forms of armed Men, / Poſſeſſ the Space that borders on the Porch— […]
I keep a small stock of painkillers for emergencies.
I keep my specimens under glass to protect them.
The abundance of squirrels kept the dogs running for hours.
Mr. Cooke had had a sloop yacht built at Far Harbor, the completion of which had been delayed, and which was but just delivered. […] The Maria had a cabin, which was finished in hard wood and yellow plush, and accommodations for keeping things cold.
She mixed furniture with the same fatal profligacy as she mixed drinks, and this outrageous contact between things which were intended by Nature to be kept poles apart gave her an inexpressible thrill.
I used to keep a diary.
Metrocles somewhat indiscreetly, as he was disputing in his Schole, in presence of his auditory, let a fart, for shame whereof he afterwards kept his house and could not be drawen abroad […].
The wrathful skies / Gallow the very wanderers of the dark / And make them keep their caves.
The following day she was so ill that she kept her bed; the husband went not once to enquire for her, nor did he send any message: he also kept his apartment, and was heard walking backwards and forwards with a hurried pace the whole of that day.
"As I sat alone at my breakfast--Mrs. Challenger is in the habit of keeping her room of a morning--it suddenly entered my head that it would be entertaining and instructive to see whether I could find any limits to this woman's inperturbability."
I keep my pet gerbil away from my brother.
Don't let me keep you; I know you have things to be doing.
May the Lord keep you from harm.
cursse on thy cruell hond, / That twise hath sped; yet shall it not thee keepe / From the third brunt of this my fatall brond […]
He kept a mistress for over ten years.
He has been keeping orchids since retiring.
Of course boys are boys and need watching, but there is little watching necessary when they keep chickens.
Jailing her on Wednesday, magistrate Liz Clyne told Robins: "You have shown little remorse either for the death of the kitten or the trauma to your former friend Sarah Knutton." She was also banned from keeping animals for 10 years.
I know that it's a secret / And that I gotta keep it / But I want the lights on / Yeah, I want the lights on
like a pedant that keeps a school
They were honourably accompanied and with great estate brought to London, where euery of them kept house by himselfe.
At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors. […] In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.
She kept to her bed while the fever lasted.
Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps, / To ruminate strange plots of dire revenge; […]
I keep taking the tablets, but to no avail.
Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. […] Next day she […] tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head. Then, thwarted, the wretched creature went to the police for help; she was versed in the law, and had perhaps spared no pains to keep on good terms with the local constabulary.
Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, and so we entered stage three – what therapists call "bargaining". A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.
Potatoes can keep if they are in a root cellar.
Latex paint won't keep indefinitely.
If the malt be not thoroughly dried, the ale it makes will not keep.
The rabbit avoided detection by keeping still.
Keep calm! There's no need to panic.
And thenne whan the damoysel knewe certaynly that he was not syre launcelot / thenne she took her leue and departed from hym / And thenne syre Trystram rode pryuely vnto the posterne where kepte hym la beale Isoud / and there she made hym good chere and thanked god of his good spede
Godfrey Evans kept for England for many years.
[…] kepe that the lustes choke not the word of God that is sowen in vs,
School keeps today.
I have kept the faith: […]
Be strong, live happie, and love, but first of all / Him whom to love is to obey, and keep / His great command; […]
[…] 'tis hallowed ground;No Maid seeks here her strayed Cow, or Sheep,Fairies, and fawns, and satyrs do it keep:
The feast of St. Stephen is kept on December 26.
"Nephew!" returned the uncle sternly, "keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine."
"Oh, we are from Osthalla," says one of them, "we are going to the Veien dairy to keep the wedding; the one who drives in front is the parson, next are the bride and bridegroom, and I am his father-in-law."
Related words
synonyms
(maintain possession of): retain
(maintain the condition of): preserve, protect
(to reside for a time): See also Thesaurus:sojourn
related terms
for keeps
Etimology
From Middle English kepe, kep, from the verb (see above).
noun
keep (countable and uncountable, plural keeps)
(historical) The main tower of a castle or fortress, located within the castle walls.
The food or money required to keep someone alive and healthy; one's support, maintenance.
(obsolete) The act or office of keeping; custody; guard; care; heed; charge; notice.
The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case.
(obsolete) That which is kept in charge; a charge.
(engineering) A cap for holding something, such as a journal box, in place.
Examples
Synonym: donjon
He works as a cobbler's apprentice for his keep.
So Sir Gareth strayned hym so that his olde wounde braste ayen on bledynge; but he was hote and corragyous and toke no kepe, but with his grete forse he strake downe the knyght […].So Sir Gareth strained him, so that his old wound brast again a-bleeding; but he was hot and courageous and took no keep, but with his great force he struck down the knight […].
So Sir Gareth strained him, so that his old wound brast again a-bleeding; but he was hot and courageous and took no keep, but with his great force he struck down the knight […].
Pan, thou god of shepherds all, / Which of our tender lambkins takest keep.
to be in good keep
Often he used of his keep / A sacrifice to bring.