WordWeb Online

1. Keep in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., "keep clean"
   "The students keep me on my toes"
   - maintain, hold
    
2. Continue a certain state, condition, or activity
   "Keep on working!"; "Keep smiling"
   - continue, go on, proceed, go along
    
3. Retain possession of
   "Can I keep my old stuffed animals?"; "She kept her maiden name after she married"
   - hold on
    
4. Stop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state
   "His snoring kept me from falling asleep"; "Keep the child from eating the marbles"
   - prevent
    
5. Conform one's action or practice to
   "keep appointments"; "she never keeps her promises"; "We kept to the original conditions of the contract"
   - observe
    
6. Stick to correctly or closely
   "The pianist kept time with the metronome"; "keep count"; "I cannot keep track of all my employees"
   - observe, maintain
    
7. Look after; be the keeper of; have charge of
   "He keeps the shop when I am gone"
    
8. Maintain by writing regular records
   "keep a diary"; "keep notes"
   - maintain
    
9. Supply with room and board
   "He is keeping three women in the guest cottage"; "keep boarders"
    
10. Allow to remain in a place or position or maintain a property or feature
    "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"
    - retain, continue, keep on
     
11. Supply with necessities and support
    "There's little to earn and many to keep"
    - sustain, maintain
     
12. Fail to spoil or rot
    "These potatoes keep for a long time"
    - stay fresh
     
13. Behave as expected during of holidays or rites
    "Keep the commandments"
    - observe, celebrate
     
14. Keep under control; keep in check
    "Keep your temper"; "keep your cool"
    - restrain, keep back, hold back
     
15. Maintain in safety from injury, harm, or danger
    "May God keep you"
    - preserve
     
16. Raise
    "She keeps a few chickens in the yard"; "he keeps bees"
     
17. Retain rights to
    "keep my job for me while I give birth"; "keep my seat, please"; "keep open the possibility of a merger"
    - keep open, hold open, save
     
18. Store or keep customarily
    "Where do you keep your gardening tools?"
     
19. Have as a supply
    "I always keep batteries in the freezer"; "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
    "I keep a car in the countryside"; "She keeps an apartment in Paris for her shopping trips"
    - maintain
     
21. Hold and prevent from leaving
    "The student was kept after school"
     
22. Prevent (food) from rotting
    "keep potatoes fresh"
    - preserve

1. The financial means whereby one lives
   "each child was expected to pay for their keep"
   - support, livelihood, living, bread and butter, sustenance
    
2. The main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress
   - donjon, dungeon
    
3. A cell in a jail or prison
   - hold

Derived forms: keeping, kept, keeps

See also: keep apart, keep back, keep down, keep in, keep off, keep out, keep up, keeper, keeping

Type of: accommodate, act, book, bottle up, cell, confine, cook, detain, enter, farm, fastness, fix, grow, have, have got, hold, inhibit, jail cell, keep up, lodge, make, move, prepare, prison cell, produce, prolong, protect, put down, raise, ready, record, remain, reserve, resource, rest, stay, store, stronghold, suppress, sustain

Antonym: break, lose

Part of: castle

Encyclopedia: Keep