keep

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To continue in (a course or mode of action)

   To continue in (a course or mode of action); to not intermit or fall from; to uphold or maintain.

   • to keep silence;  to keep possession
2. 2

   To remain faithful to a given promise or word.

   • to keep one's word;  to keep one's promise
   • 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— […]
3. 3

   To hold the status of something.

   • I keep a small stock of painkillers for emergencies.
   • I only meant to lend him the shirt at first, but it looked better on him than me, so I told him to keep it.
4. ›+ 17 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To hold or be held in a state.

      • 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; […]
   2. 5

      To wait for, keep watch for.

   3. 6

      To act as wicket-keeper.

      • Godfrey Evans kept for England for many years.
   4. 7

      To take care

      To take care; to be solicitous; to watch.

      • […] kepe that the lustes choke not the word of God that is sowen in vs,
   5. 8

      To be in session

      To be in session; to take place.

      • School keeps today.
   6. 9

      To observe

      To observe; to adhere to; to fulfill; to not swerve from or violate.

      • 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; […]
   7. 10

      To visit (a place) often

      To visit (a place) often; to frequent.

      • […] 'tis hallowed ground; No Maid seeks here her strayed Cow, or Sheep, Fairies, and fawns, and satyrs do it keep:
   8. 11

      To observe or celebrate (a holiday).

      • to keep the Sabbath
      • 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."
   9. 12

      To put (something) back (to its original location or appropriate place)

      To put (something) back (to its original location or appropriate place); to put away.

      • Please keep these books.
      • […] semantic shift: e.g., to send (“to give a lift”), to keep (“to put away”), to hack (“to remove carefully,” e.g., tiles, plaster, etc.), knock (“to remove a dent from a car”), bluff (“to joke”), stay (“to live”) […]
   10. 13

       The main tower of a castle or fortress, located within the castle walls.

   11. 14

       The food or money required to keep someone alive and healthy

       The food or money required to keep someone alive and healthy; one's support, maintenance.

       • He works as a cobbler's apprentice for his keep.
   12. 15

       The state of being kept

       The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case.

       • to be in good keep
   13. 16

       A cap for holding something, such as a journal box, in place.

   14. 17

       The act or office of keeping

       The act or office of keeping; custody; guard; care; heed; charge; notice.

       • 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[…].
       • Pan, thou god of shepherds all, / Which of our tender lambkins takest keep.
   15. 18

       That which is kept in charge

       That which is kept in charge; a charge.

       • Often he used of his keep / A sacrifice to bring.
   16. 19

       A mistress (the other woman in an extramarital relationship, generally including sexual…

       A mistress (the other woman in an extramarital relationship, generally including sexual relations).

   17. 20

       A surname.

The neighborhood

• neighborfor keeps
• neighbordonjon