Keep

/kiːp/ name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: The main tower of a castle or fortress, located within the castle walls.
  • Grammar: keep is listed as name, noun, verb.
  • Nearest alternatives: donjon, hold, abide, abide by.
  • Useful contrasts: changeant, deliberate change, disconnected.
  • Usage evidence: It's useless to keep on thinking any more.

How to use "keep"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "keep" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "keep" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "keep" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "keep" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "keep" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "donjon" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "keep", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The main tower of a castle or fortress, located within the castle walls. countable, historical, uncountable
  2. 2
    a cell in a jail or prison wordnet
  3. 3
    The food or money required to keep someone alive and healthy; one's support, maintenance. countable, uncountable

    "He works as a cobbler's apprentice for his keep."

  4. 4
    the main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress wordnet
  5. 5
    The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case. countable, uncountable

    "to be in good keep"

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    the financial means whereby one lives wordnet
  2. 7
    A cap for holding something, such as a journal box, in place. countable, uncountable
  3. 8
    The act or office of keeping; custody; guard; care; heed; charge; notice. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "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[…]."

  4. 9
    That which is kept in charge; a charge. countable, obsolete, uncountable

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

  5. 10
    A mistress (the other woman in an extramarital relationship, generally including sexual relations). countable, euphemistic, obsolete, uncountable

    "My Darling Girl, In London the other day I heard a piece of news which may amuse you. The French girl who shot her so-called Egyptian prince and is going to be tried for murder, is the fancy woman who was the Prince's 'keep' in Paris during the war […]"

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

    "to keep silence;  to keep possession"

  2. 2
    prevent (food) from rotting wordnet
  3. 3
    To remain faithful to a given promise or word. transitive

    "to keep one's word;  to keep one's promise"

  4. 4
    prevent the action or expression of wordnet
  5. 5
    To hold the status of something.; To maintain possession of. transitive

    "I keep a small stock of painkillers for emergencies."

Show 44 more definitions
  1. 6
    stick to correctly or closely wordnet
  2. 7
    To hold the status of something.; To maintain the condition of; to preserve in a certain state. ditransitive, transitive

    "I keep my specimens under glass to protect them."

  3. 8
    maintain by writing regular records wordnet
  4. 9
    To hold the status of something.; To record transactions, accounts, or events in. transitive

    "I used to keep a diary."

  5. 10
    supply with necessities and support wordnet
  6. 11
    To hold the status of something.; To enter (accounts, records, etc.) in a book. transitive
  7. 12
    hold and prevent from leaving wordnet
  8. 13
    To hold the status of something.; To remain in; to be confined to. archaic, transitive

    "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[…]."

  9. 14
    retain possession of wordnet
  10. 15
    To hold the status of something.; To restrain. transitive

    "I keep my pet gerbil away from my brother."

  11. 16
    look after; be the keeper of; have charge of wordnet
  12. 17
    To hold the status of something.; To watch over, look after, guard, protect. transitive

    "May the Lord keep you from harm."

  13. 18
    maintain for use and service wordnet
  14. 19
    To hold the status of something.; To supply with necessities and financially support (a person). transitive

    "He kept a mistress for over ten years."

  15. 20
    have as a supply wordnet
  16. 21
    To hold the status of something.; To raise; to care for. transitive

    "He has been keeping orchids since retiring."

  17. 22
    store or keep customarily wordnet
  18. 23
    To hold the status of something.; To refrain from freely disclosing (a secret). transitive

    "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"

  19. 24
    retain rights to wordnet
  20. 25
    To hold the status of something.; To maintain (an establishment or institution); to conduct; to manage. transitive

    "like a pedant that keeps a school"

  21. 26
    allow to remain in a place or position or maintain a property or feature wordnet
  22. 27
    To hold the status of something.; To have habitually in stock for sale. transitive
  23. 28
    stop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state wordnet
  24. 29
    To hold or be held in a state.; To reside for a time; to lodge; to dwell. intransitive, obsolete

    "She kept to her bed while the fever lasted."

  25. 30
    behave as expected during holidays or rites wordnet
  26. 31
    To hold or be held in a state.; To continue. intransitive

    "I keep taking the tablets, but to no avail."

  27. 32
    conform one's action or practice to wordnet
  28. 33
    To hold or be held in a state.; To remain edible or otherwise usable. intransitive

    "Potatoes can keep if they are in a root cellar."

  29. 34
    supply with room and board wordnet
  30. 35
    To hold or be held in a state.; To remain in a state. copulative, intransitive

    "The rabbit avoided detection by keeping still."

  31. 36
    to rear wordnet
  32. 37
    To hold or be held in a state.; To have rooms at college, at the University of Cambridge. UK, intransitive, obsolete
  33. 38
    cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity wordnet
  34. 39
    To wait for, keep watch for. obsolete

    "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"

  35. 40
    continue a certain state, condition, or activity wordnet
  36. 41
    To act as wicket-keeper. intransitive

    "Godfrey Evans kept for England for many years."

  37. 42
    maintain in safety from injury, harm, or danger wordnet
  38. 43
    To take care; to be solicitous; to watch. intransitive, obsolete

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

  39. 44
    fail to spoil or rot wordnet
  40. 45
    To be in session; to take place. intransitive, obsolete

    "School keeps today."

  41. 46
    To observe; to adhere to; to fulfill; to not swerve from or violate. transitive

    "I have kept the faith: […]"

  42. 47
    To visit (a place) often; to frequent. broadly, dated, transitive

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

  43. 48
    To observe or celebrate (a holiday). dated, transitive

    "to keep the Sabbath"

  44. 49
    To put (something) back (to its original location or appropriate place); to put away. Singapore, Wales, transitive

    "Please keep these books."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
donjonholdabideabide byabstainaccede to

Antonyms

changeantdeliberate changedisconnectedforsaken

Example

"It's useless to keep on thinking any more."

Common questions

What does "keep" mean?

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

What is a synonym for "keep"?

Common synonyms include: donjon, hold, abide, abide by, abstain, accede to.

How do you use "keep" in a sentence?

It's useless to keep on thinking any more.

How do you pronounce "keep"?

Pronounced /kiːp/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

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”)). The dialectal sense of the verb meaning “to put back” or “put away” may be analyzed as a semantic loan from a local language—compare Welsh cadw and Mandarin 收 (shōu).

Etymology 2

From Middle English kepe, kep, from the verb (see above).

More for "keep"

Synonyms

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