Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Keep?

\Keep\ (k[=e]p), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Kept}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Keeping}.] [OE. k?pen, AS. c?pan to keep, regard, desire, await, take, betake; cf. AS. copenere lover, OE. copnien to desire.] 1. To care; to desire. [Obs.] I kepe not of armes for to yelp [boast]. --Chaucer. 2. To hold; to restrain from departure or removal; not to let go of; to retain in one's power or possession; not to lose; to retain; to detain. If we lose the field, We can not keep the town. --Shak. That I may know what keeps me here with you. --Dryden. If we would weigh and keep in our minds what we are considering, that would instruct us. --Locke. 3. To cause to remain in a given situation or condition; to maintain unchanged; to hold or preserve in any state or tenor. His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal. --Milton. Keep a stiff rein, and move but gently on. --Addison. Note: In this sense it is often used with prepositions and adverbs, as to keep away, to keep down, to keep from, to keep in, out, or off, etc. ``To keep off impertinence and solicitation from his superior.'' --Addison. 4. To have in custody; to have in some place for preservation; to take charge of. The crown of Stephanus, first king of Hungary, was always kept in the castle of Vicegrade. --Knolles. 5. To preserve from danger, harm, or loss; to guard. Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee. --Gen. xxviii. 15. 6. To preserve from discovery or publicity; not to communicate, reveal, or betray, as a secret. Great are thy virtues . . . though kept from man. --Milton. 7. To attend upon; to have the care of; to tend. And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it. --Gen. ii. 15. In her girlish age, she kept sheep on the moor. --Carew. 8. To record transactions, accounts, or events in; as, to keep books, a journal, etc.; also, to enter (as accounts, records, etc. ) in a book. 9. To maintain, as an establishment, institution, or the like; to conduct; to manage; as, to keep store. Like a pedant that keeps a school. --Shak. Every one of them kept house by himself. --Hayward. 10. To supply with necessaries of life; to entertain; as, to keep boarders. 11. To have in one's service; to have and maintain, as an assistant, a servant, a mistress, a horse, etc. I keep but three men and a boy. --Shak. 12. To have habitually in stock for sale. 13. To continue in, as a course or mode of action; not to intermit or fall from; to hold to; to maintain; as, to keep silence; to keep one's word; to keep possession. Both day and night did we keep company. --Shak. Within this portal as I kept my watch. --Smollett. 14. To observe; to adhere to; to fulfill; not to swerve from or violate; to practice or perform, as duty; not to neglect; to be faithful to. I have kept the faith. --2 Tim. iv. 7. Him whom to love is to obey, and keep His great command. --Milton. 15. To confine one's self to; not to quit; to remain in; as, to keep one's house, room, bed, etc.; hence, to haunt; to frequent. --Shak. 'Tis hallowed ground; Fairies, and fawns, and satyrs do it keep. --J. Fletcher. 16. To observe duty, as a festival, etc.; to celebrate; to solemnize; as, to keep a feast. I went with them to the house of God . . . with a multitude that kept holyday. --Ps. xlii. 4. {To keep at arm's length}. See under {Arm}, n. {To keep back}. (a) To reserve; to withhold. ``I will keep nothing back from you.'' --Jer. xlii. 4. (b) To restrain; to hold back. ``Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins.'' --Ps. xix. 13. {To keep company with}. (a) To frequent the society of; to associate with; as, let youth keep company with the wise and good. (b) To accompany; to go with; as, to keep company with one on a voyage; also, to pay court to, or accept attentions from, with a view to marriage. [Colloq.] {To keep counsel}. See under {Counsel}, n. {To keep down}. (a) To hold in subjection; to restrain; to hinder. (b) (Fine Arts) To subdue in tint or tone, as a portion of a picture, so that the spectator's attention may not be diverted from the more important parts of the work. {To keep good} (or {bad}) {hours}, to be customarily early (or late) in returning home or in retiring to rest. -- {To keep house}. (a) To occupy a separate house or establishment, as with one's family, as distinguished from boarding; to manage domestic affairs. (b) (Eng. Bankrupt Law) To seclude one's self in one's house in order to evade the demands of creditors. -- {To keep one's hand in}, to keep in practice. -- {To keep open house}, to be hospitable. -- {To keep the peace} (Law), to avoid or to prevent a breach of the peace. -- {To keep school}, to govern, manage and instruct or teach a school, as a preceptor. -- {To keep a stiff upper lip}, to keep up one's courage. [Slang] -- {To keep term}. (a) (Eng. Universities) To reside during a term. (b) (Inns of Court) To eat a sufficient number of dinners in hall to make the term count for the purpose of being called to the bar. [Eng.] --Mozley & W. {To keep touch}. See under {Touch}, n. {To keep under}, to hold in subjection; hence, to oppress. {To keep up}. (a) To maintain; to prevent from falling or diminution; as, to keep up the price of goods; to keep up one's credit. (b) To maintain; to continue; to prevent from ceasing. ``In joy, that which keeps up the action is the desire to continue it.'' --Locke. Syn: To retain; detain; reserve; preserve; hold; restrain; maintain; sustain; support; withhold. -- To {Keep}. Usage: {Retain}, {Preserve}. Keep is the generic term, and is often used where retain or preserve would too much restrict the meaning; as, to keep silence, etc. Retain denotes that we keep or hold things, as against influences which might deprive us of them, or reasons which might lead us to give them up; as, to retain vivacity in old age; to retain counsel in a lawsuit; to retain one's servant after a reverse of fortune. Preserve denotes that we keep a thing against agencies which might lead to its being destroyed or broken in upon; as, to preserve one's health; to preserve appearances.
\Keep\, v. i. 1. To remain in any position or state; to continue; to abide; to stay; as, to keep at a distance; to keep aloft; to keep near; to keep in the house; to keep before or behind; to keep in favor; to keep out of company, or out reach. 2. To last; to endure; to remain unimpaired. If the malt be not thoroughly dried, the ale it makes will not keep. --Mortimer. 3. To reside for a time; to lodge; to dwell. [Now disused except locally or colloquially.] Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps. --Shak. 4. To take care; to be solicitous; to watch. [Obs.] Keep that the lusts choke not the word of God that is in us. --Tyndale. 5. To be in session; as, school keeps to-day. [Colloq.] {To keep from}, to abstain or refrain from. {To keep in with}, to keep on good terms with; as, to keep in with an opponent. {To keep on}, to go forward; to proceed; to continue to advance. {To keep to}, to adhere strictly to; not to neglect or deviate from; as, to keep to old customs; to keep to a rule; to keep to one's word or promise. {To keep up}, to remain unsubdued; also, not to be confined to one's bed.
\Keep\, n. 1. The act or office of keeping; custody; guard; care; heed; charge. --Chaucer. Pan, thou god of shepherds all, Which of our tender lambkins takest keep. --Spenser. 2. The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case; as, to be in good keep. 3. The means or provisions by which one is kept; maintenance; support; as, the keep of a horse. Grass equal to the keep of seven cows. --Carlyle. I performed some services to the college in return for my keep. --T. Hughes. 4. That which keeps or protects; a stronghold; a fortress; a castle; specifically, the strongest and securest part of a castle, often used as a place of residence by the lord of the castle, especially during a siege; the donjon. See Illust. of {Castle}. The prison strong, Within whose keep the captive knights were laid. --Dryden. The lower chambers of those gloomy keeps. --Hallam. I think . . . the keep, or principal part of a castle, was so called because the lord and his domestic circle kept, abode, or lived there. --M. A. Lower. 5. That which is kept in charge; a charge. [Obs.] Often he used of his keep A sacrifice to bring. --Spenser. 6. (Mach.) A cap for retaining anything, as a journal box, in place. {To take keep}, to take care; to heed. [Obs.] --Chaucer.