keep

• enPR: kēp, IPA^(key): /kiːp/

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• Rhymes: -iːp

From Middle English kepen (“to keep, guard, look after, watch”), from Old English cēpan (“to seize, hold, observe”), from Proto-Germanic *kōpijaną (compare West Frisian kypje (“to look”)), variant of *kapjaną (compare Old English capian (“to look”), Dutch kapen (“to seize, snatch”), Danish kope (“to gawk, stare”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵab-, *ǵāb- (“to look after”) (compare Lithuanian žẽbti (“to eat reluctantly”), Russian забо́та (zabóta, “care, worry”)).

keep (third-person singular simple present keeps, present participle keeping, simple past and past participle kept)

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

   to keep silence;  to keep one's word;  to keep possession

   • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act V, Scene 1,

     Both day and night did we keep company.

   • c. 1749, Tobias Smollett, The Regicide, Act V, Scene 5, in Plays and Poems Written by T. Smollett, M.D., London: T. Evans and R. Baldwin, 1777, p. 106,

     Within the portal as I kept my watch,

2. (heading, transitive) To hold the status of something.
   1. To maintain possession of.

      I keep a small stock of painkillers for emergencies.

   2. To maintain the condition of.

      I keep my specimens under glass to protect them.

      The abundance of squirrels kept the dogs running for hours.

      • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 10, in The Celebrity:

        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.

      • 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 1, in Death on the Centre Court:

        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.

   3. (transitive) To record transactions, accounts, or events in.

      I used to keep a diary.

   4. (transitive) To enter (accounts, records, etc.) in a book.
   5. (archaic) To remain in, to be confined to.
      • 1605, William Shakespeare, King Lear, III.ii,

        The wrathful skies / Gallow the very wanderers of the dark / And make them keep their caves.

   6. To restrain.

      I keep my brother out of trouble by keeping him away from his friends and hard at work.

   7. (with from) To watch over, look after, guard, protect.

      May the Lord keep you from harm.

      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.viii:

        cursse on thy cruell hond, / That twise hath sped; yet shall it not thee keepe / From the third brunt of this my fatall brond […].

   8. To supply with necessities and financially support a person.

      He kept a mistress for over ten years.

   9. (of living things) To raise; to care for.

      He has been keeping orchids since retiring.

      • 1914, Robert Joos, Success with Hens, Forbes & company, p.217:

        Of course boys are boys and need watching, but there is little watching necessary when they keep chickens.

      • 2011 December 14, Steven Morris, “Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave”, in The Guardian:

        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.

   10. To maintain (an establishment or institution); to conduct; to manage.
       • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act III, Scene 2,

         like a pedant that keeps a school

       • 1630, John Hayward, The Life, and Raigne of King Edward the Sixt, London: John Partridge, p. 114,

         They were honourably accompanied and with great estate brought to London, where euery of them kept house by himselfe.

       • 1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 16832619:

         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.

   11. To have habitually in stock for sale.
3. (heading, intransitive) To hold or be held in a state.
   1. (obsolete) To reside for a time; to lodge; to dwell.

      She kept to her bed while the fever lasted.

      • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, Act V, Scene 2,

        Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps,

        To ruminate strange plots of dire revenge;

   2. To continue.

      I keep taking the tablets, but to no avail.

      • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 22, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

        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.

      • 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:

        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.

   3. To remain edible or otherwise usable.

      Potatoes can keep if they are in a root cellar.

      Latex paint won't keep indefinitely.

      • 1707, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry

        If the malt be not thoroughly dried, the ale it makes will not keep.

   4. (copulative) To remain in a state.

      The rabbit avoided detection by keeping still.

      Keep calm! There's no need to panic.

4. (obsolete) To wait for, keep watch for.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter x, in Le Morte Darthur, book VIII:

     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

5. (intransitive, cricket) To act as wicket-keeper.

   Godfrey Evans kept for England for many years.

6. (intransitive, obsolete) To take care; to be solicitous; to watch.
   • c. 1530, William Tyndale, A Pathway into the holy Scripture in The Whole Workes of W. Tyndall, Iohn Frith, and Doct. Barnes, London: John Day, 1573, p. 384,

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

7. (intransitive, obsolete) To be in session; to take place.

   School keeps today.

8. (transitive) To observe; to adhere to; to fulfill; not to swerve from or violate.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, 2 Timothy 4.7,

     I have kept the faith:

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, London, Book 7, lines 1271-1272,

     Be strong, live happie, and love, but first of all

     Him whom to love is to obey, and keep

     His great command;

9. (transitive, dated) To confine oneself to; not to quit; to remain in.

   to keep one's house, room, bed, etc.

10. (transitive, dated, by extension) To visit (a place) often; to frequent.
    • c. 1608, John Fletcher, The Faithful Shepherdess, Act III, Scene 1,

      […] ’tis hallowed ground;

      No Maid seeks here her strayed Cow, or Sheep,

      Fairies, and fawns, and satyrs do it keep:

• (maintain possession of): retain
• (maintain the condition of): preserve, protect
• (to reside for a time): See also Thesaurus:sojourn

Pages starting with "keep".

• for keeps

keep (plural keeps)

1. (obsolete) Care, notice
   • 1485 July 31, Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book VII, [London]: […] [by William Caxton], OCLC 71490786; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: Published by David Nutt, […], 1889, OCLC 890162034:

     :

     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 […].

2. (historical) The main tower of a castle or fortress, located within the castle walls.

   Synonym: donjon

3. 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.

4. The act or office of keeping; custody; guard; care; heed; charge.
   • Spenser

     Pan, thou god of shepherds all, / Which of our tender lambkins takest keep.

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

   to be in good keep

6. (obsolete) That which is kept in charge; a charge.
   • Spenser

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

7. (engineering) A cap for holding something, such as a journal box, in place.

• earn one's keep

• donjon

• Ekpe, PEEK, Peek, Peke, kepe, peek, peke

keep (genitive keebi, partitive keepi)

1. cloak, capote, gaberdine

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

keep

1. notice; note; observance

   take keep — “take note”

   • Chaucer, G.P. 503-4:

     And shame it is, if a preest take keep

     A shiten shepherde and a clene sheep

• IPA^(key): /keːp˩/

keep (plural keepoʼob)

1. (anatomy) penis

• toon