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Keep   /kip/   Listen
Keep

verb
(past & past part. kept; pres. part. keeping)
1.
Keep in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g.,.  Synonyms: hold, maintain.  "Hold in place" , "She always held herself as a lady" , "The students keep me on my toes"
2.
Continue a certain state, condition, or activity.  Synonyms: continue, go along, go on, proceed.  "We continued to work into the night" , "Keep smiling" , "We went on working until well past midnight"  Antonym: discontinue.
3.
Retain possession of.  Synonym: hold on.  "She kept her maiden name after she married"  Antonym: lose.
4.
Stop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state.  Synonym: prevent.  "His snoring kept me from falling asleep" , "Keep the child from eating the marbles"  Antonym: let.
5.
Conform one's action or practice to.  Synonym: observe.  "She never keeps her promises" , "We kept to the original conditions of the contract"  Antonym: break.
6.
Stick to correctly or closely.  Synonyms: maintain, observe.  "Keep count" , "I cannot keep track of all my employees"
7.
Look after; be the keeper of; have charge of.
8.
Maintain by writing regular records.  Synonym: maintain.  "Maintain a record" , "Keep notes"
9.
Supply with room and board.  "Keep boarders"
10.
Allow to remain in a place or position or maintain a property or feature.  Synonyms: continue, keep on, retain.  "She retains a lawyer" , "The family's fortune waned and they could not keep their household staff" , "Our grant has run out and we cannot keep you on" , "We kept the work going as long as we could" , "She retained her composure" , "This garment retains its shape even after many washings"
11.
Supply with necessities and support.  Synonyms: maintain, sustain.  "The money will sustain our good cause" , "There's little to earn and many to keep"
12.
Fail to spoil or rot.  Synonym: stay fresh.
13.
Behave as expected during of holidays or rites.  Synonyms: celebrate, observe.  "Celebrate Christmas" , "Observe Yom Kippur"
14.
Keep under control; keep in check.  Synonyms: hold back, keep back, restrain.  "Keep your temper" , "Keep your cool"
15.
Maintain in safety from injury, harm, or danger.  Synonym: preserve.
16.
Raise.  "He keeps bees"
17.
Retain rights to.  Synonyms: hold open, keep open, save.  "Keep my seat, please" , "Keep open the possibility of a merger"
18.
Store or keep customarily.
19.
Have as a supply.  "Keep food for a week in the pantry" , "She keeps a sixpack and a week's worth of supplies in the refrigerator"
20.
Maintain for use and service.  Synonym: maintain.  "She keeps an apartment in Paris for her shopping trips"
21.
Hold and prevent from leaving.
22.
Prevent (food) from rotting.  Synonym: preserve.  "Keep potatoes fresh"
noun
1.
The financial means whereby one lives.  Synonyms: bread and butter, livelihood, living, support, sustenance.  "He applied to the state for support" , "He could no longer earn his own livelihood"
2.
The main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress.  Synonyms: donjon, dungeon.
3.
A cell in a jail or prison.  Synonym: hold.



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WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








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"Keep" Quotes from Famous Books



... his sleep of death was ended; and he who had been thus called back again to life arose from his dread couch in all the vigor of youth. Care vanished, and with her the Galoshes. She has no doubt taken them for herself, to keep them to all eternity. ...
— Andersen's Fairy Tales • Hans Christian Andersen

... weel;—a guid lad: go—go and receive her as a lover should. [Exit Egerton.] Hah! I must keep a devilish tight hand upon this fallow, I see,—or he will be touched with the patriotic frenzy of the times, and run counter till aw my designs.—I find he has a strong inclination to have a judgment of his ain, independent of mine, in aw political matters;—but ...
— The Man Of The World (1792) • Charles Macklin

... an eye, a leg, an arm, and been so badly marred and begrimmed besides, that you never could love this poor, maimed soldier. Yet, I love you too well to make your life wretched by requiring you to keep your marriage-vow with me, from which I hereby release you. Find among English peers one physically more perfect, ...
— Searchlights on Health: Light on Dark Corners • B.G. Jefferis

... Strand I turn, And down a dark lane to the quiet river, One stream of silver under the full moon, And think of how cold searchlights flare and burn Over dank trenches where men crouch and shiver. Humming, to keep their hearts up, ...
— Miscellany of Poetry - 1919 • Various

... reproach. His manners were pleasantly marked by the formal grace and refinement of the old school of politeness, quickened by the invigorating sharpness and readiness of a man whose business in life obliges him always to keep his faculties in good working order. A sanguine constitution and fair prospects to begin with—a long subsequent career of creditable and comfortable prosperity—a cheerful, diligent, widely-respected old age—such were the general impressions I derived from my introduction to Mr. Gilmore, and ...
— The Woman in White • Wilkie Collins


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