Definition of "keep"

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

To remain faithful to a given promise or word.  quotations  examples

(transitive) To hold the status of something.

1. To maintain possession of.  examples

2. (ditransitive) To maintain the condition of; to preserve in a certain state.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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.

     1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter X, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd.

   • 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.

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

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

4. (transitive) To enter (accounts, records, etc.) in a book.  examples

5. (archaic) To remain in; to be confined to.  quotations

   Quotations

   • 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 […].

     1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […]

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

     c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene ii]

   • The following day she was so ill that she kept her bed; the husband went not once to enquire for her, nor did he send any message: he also kept his apartment, and was heard walking backwards and forwards with a hurried pace the whole of that day.

     1789, John Moore, Zeluco, Valancourt, published 2008, page 71

   • "As I sat alone at my breakfast--Mrs. Challenger is in the habit of keeping her room of a morning--it suddenly entered my head that it would be entertaining and instructive to see whether I could find any limits to this woman's inperturbability."

     1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton

6. To restrain.  examples

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

   Quotations

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

     1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie

8. To supply with necessities and financially support (a person).  examples

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

   Quotations

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

     1914, Robert Joos, Success with Hens, Forbes & company, page 217

   • 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.

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

10. To refrain from freely disclosing (a secret).  quotations  examples

    Quotations

    • 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

      2012, Anthony Reyes, Melissa Sheppard, “Leave the Lights On”, in The Bright Side‎, performed by Meiko

11. To maintain (an establishment or institution); to conduct; to manage.  quotations  examples

    Quotations

    • like a pedant that keeps a school

      c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene ii]

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

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

    • 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.

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

12. To have habitually in stock for sale.  examples

(intransitive) To hold or be held in a state.

1. (obsolete) To reside for a time; to lodge; to dwell.  quotations

   Quotations

   • Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps, / To ruminate strange plots of dire revenge; […]

     c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene ii]

2. To continue.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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.

     1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company

   • 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.

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

3. To remain edible or otherwise usable.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

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

     1707, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry‎

4. (copulative) To remain in a state.  examples

(obsolete) To wait for, keep watch for.  quotations

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

(intransitive, obsolete) To take care; to be solicitous; to watch.  quotations

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

(transitive) To observe; to adhere to; to fulfill; to not swerve from or violate.  quotations  examples

(transitive, dated, by extension) To visit (a place) often; to frequent.  quotations  examples

(transitive, dated) To observe or celebrate (a holiday).  quotations  examples

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

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

(obsolete) The act or office of keeping; custody; guard; care; heed; charge; notice.  quotations

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

(obsolete) That which is kept in charge; a charge.  quotations

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