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Keep

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keep¹

  • /kiːp/
  • [kiːp] UK
  • [kʰɪjp] UK
  • [kʰɪjp] British, Southern, Southern US, Standard
  • [k̟çi(ː)p] US
  • [k(ʰ)i(ː)p] Canada, Scotland

Rhymes with -iːp

Where it comes from

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).

verb keeps · keeping · kept · keep

  1. transitive 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. transitive To remain faithful to a given promise or word. to keep one's word;  to keep one's promise
  3. transitive To maintain possession of. I keep a small stock of painkillers for emergencies.
  4. ditransitive, transitive To maintain the condition of; to preserve in a certain state. I keep my specimens under glass to protect them.
  5. transitive To record transactions, accounts, or events in. I used to keep a diary.
  6. transitive To enter (accounts, records, etc.) in a book.
  7. archaic, transitive To remain in; to be confined to. 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[…].
  8. transitive To restrain. I keep my pet gerbil away from my brother.
  9. transitive To watch over, look after, guard, protect. May the Lord keep you from harm.
  10. transitive To supply with necessities and financially support (a person). He kept a mistress for over ten years.
  11. transitive To raise; to care for. He has been keeping orchids since retiring.
  12. transitive To refrain from freely disclosing (a secret). 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
  13. transitive To maintain (an establishment or institution); to conduct; to manage. like a pedant that keeps a school
  14. transitive To have habitually in stock for sale.
  15. intransitive, obsolete To reside for a time; to lodge; to dwell. She kept to her bed while the fever lasted.
  16. intransitive To continue. I keep taking the tablets, but to no avail.
  17. intransitive To remain edible or otherwise usable. Potatoes can keep if they are in a root cellar.
  18. copulative, intransitive To remain in a state. The rabbit avoided detection by keeping still.
  19. UK, intransitive, obsolete To have rooms at college, at the University of Cambridge.
  20. obsolete To wait for, keep watch for. 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
  21. intransitive To act as wicket-keeper. Godfrey Evans kept for England for many years.
  22. intransitive, obsolete To take care; to be solicitous; to watch. […] kepe that the lustes choke not the word of God that is sowen in vs,
  23. intransitive, obsolete To be in session; to take place. School keeps today.
  24. transitive To observe; to adhere to; to fulfill; to not swerve from or violate. I have kept the faith: […]
  25. broadly, dated, transitive 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:
  26. dated, transitive To observe or celebrate (a holiday). to keep the Sabbath
  27. Singapore, Wales, transitive To put (something) back (to its original location or appropriate place); to put away. Please keep these books.

keep²

  • /kiːp/
  • [kiːp] UK
  • [kʰɪjp] UK
  • [kʰɪjp] British, Southern, Southern US, Standard
  • [k̟çi(ː)p] US
  • [k(ʰ)i(ː)p] Canada, Scotland

Rhymes with -iːp

Where it comes from

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

noun keeps · keepe

  1. countable, historical, uncountable The main tower of a castle or fortress, located within the castle walls.
  2. countable, uncountable 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.
  3. countable, uncountable The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case. to be in good keep
  4. countable, uncountable A cap for holding something, such as a journal box, in place.
  5. countable, obsolete, uncountable 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[…].
  6. countable, obsolete, uncountable That which is kept in charge; a charge. Often he used of his keep / A sacrifice to bring.
  7. countable, euphemistic, obsolete, uncountable A mistress (the other woman in an extramarital relationship, generally including sexual relations). 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 […]

Keep³

proper noun Keeps

  1. A surname.

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