Keep

//kiːp// name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level

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
preserveretaincontinuedetaindonjonhold

Example

More examples

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

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).

Related phrases

a man is known by the company he keepsan apple a day keeps the doctor at bayan apple a day keeps the doctor awaybook-keepdon't keep a dog and bark yourselfearn one's keepgate-keepgift that keeps on givinghow are you keepingkeep a civil tonguekeep a civil tongue in one's headkeep a civil tongue in one's mouth

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.