Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To retain possession of.
- intransitive verb To have as a supply.
- intransitive verb To provide (a family, for example) with maintenance and support.
- intransitive verb To support (a mistress or lover) financially.
- intransitive verb To put customarily; store.
- intransitive verb To supply with room and board for a charge.
- intransitive verb To raise.
- intransitive verb To maintain for use or service.
- intransitive verb To manage, tend, or have charge of.
- intransitive verb To preserve (food).
- intransitive verb To cause to continue in a state, condition, or course of action.
- intransitive verb To maintain records in.
- intransitive verb To enter (data) in a book.
- intransitive verb To detain.
- intransitive verb To restrain.
- intransitive verb To prevent or deter.
- intransitive verb To refrain from divulging.
- intransitive verb To save; reserve.
- intransitive verb To adhere or conform to; follow.
- intransitive verb To be faithful to; fulfill.
- intransitive verb To celebrate; observe.
- intransitive verb To remain in a state or condition; stay.
- intransitive verb To continue to do.
- intransitive verb To remain fresh or unspoiled.
- intransitive verb To restrain oneself; hold oneself back.
- noun Care; charge.
- noun The means by which one is supported.
- noun The stronghold of a castle.
- noun A jail.
- idiom (for keeps) For an indefinitely long period.
- idiom (for keeps) Seriously and permanently.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In case of falling into the water, the chief thing to do is to try to keep calm and to _keep your hands below your chin_.
A Handbook of Health Woods Hutchinson 1896
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He returns in haalf an hour with everything I need, and brings back this book which I keep, -- remember, gentlemen, which I _keep_, -- a mark of confidence which in this degen'rate age is refreshin '.
Colonel Carter of Cartersville Francis Hopkinson Smith 1876
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If we are to _be_ in Christ when we are in Ephesus, we need to keep ourselves separate and faithful, and to _keep ourselves_ in
Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians; Epistles of St. Peter and St. John Alexander Maclaren 1868
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Once, when I was very weak with sea-sickness and wanted to keep down a dinner which I had just eaten, they insisted upon it, that, if I would only put into my mouth a piece of fat pork, and _keep it there_, my dinner would stay in its place.
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Berwickshire every hind was allowed to keep a few hens; and some of them actually removed for the sake of the _hen's keep_.
The Proverbs of Scotland Alexander Hislop 1836
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III. i.7 (62,9) [I do lose a thing, That none but fools would keep] [W: would reck] The meaning seems plainly this, that _none but fools would_ wish _to keep life_; or, _none but fools would keep_ it, if choice were allowed.
Notes to Shakespeare — Volume 01: Comedies Samuel Johnson 1746
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As far as I am concerned, like the Bonds, keep making the Bourne films and we’ll judge the quality, even a bad one will be better than most of the trash released nowadays..please make more..keep them coming!
Next BOURNE movie in South America? | Obsessed With Film 2008
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Very emphatical, f Gum (minx aifto&a, kttpt With aU keeping, q.d. keep, keep* fit dottbfc guilds, yout* fceam wtll be gone elfe; And this vehemency of eifcfeffi* on, with * hictf the duty is urged, plainty implied ho*r difflciUf it is to keep our hearts, and how dangerous to let them go. v
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The comments on MSNBC about Mr. Romney seemed to have been plucked straight from the Web site AMERICAblog, which noted on Tuesday that in the 1920s, K.K.K. literature employed the phrase "keep America American."
NYT > Home Page By BRIAN STELTER 2011
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Give your video a title keep it short and include the celebrity's name
oroboros commented on the word keep
peek in reverse
December 27, 2006
tree commented on the word keep
like Robert Frost
January 1, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word keep
"The main citadel of a castle. A great tower. A fortified tower containing living quarters. A self-sufficient tower."
August 25, 2008
bilby commented on the word keep
keep in Czech : udržet
"I'm trying to udržet my inclination to dick around with the translation feature and waste lots of time."
May 26, 2011