hidden pixel

Keep Definition

keep

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary Jump to: navigation, search Wikipedia has an article on: Keep (disambiguation)

Contents

English

Most common English words: half « certain « sent « #271: keep » myself » morning » money

Pronunciation

Etymology

From Middle English kepen (“to keep, guard, look after, watch”), from Old English cēpan (“to seize, hold, observe, heed”), from Proto-Germanic *kōpijanan (“to gaze, observe”) from *kapēnan (“to look at”), from Proto-Indo-European *g'Ab-, *geb- (“to look after”). Cognate with Middle Dutch capen (“to look”), German gaffen (“to look, gawk, stare”), Danish kope (“to gawk, stare at”), Middle English copnien (“to desire”), Old English ġecōp (“proper, fitting”), cōpenere (“lover”), capian (“to look”).

Verb

to keep (third-person singular simple present keeps, present participle keeping, simple past and past participle kept)

  1. (transitive) To maintain possession of.
    I keep a small stock of painkillers for emergencies.
  2. (transitive) To maintain the condition of.
    I keep my specimens under glass to protect them.
  3. (transitive, archaic) To remain in, to be confined to.
    • 1605, William Shakespeare, King Lear, III.ii,
      The wrathful skies / Gallow the very wanderers of the dark / And make them keep their caves.
  4. (obsolete) To wait for, keep watch for.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book VIII:
      And than Sir Trystrames rode prevayly unto the posterne where kepte hym La Beale Isode, and there she made hym grete chere, and thanked God of his good spede.
  5. (transitive) To restrain.
    I keep my brother out of trouble by keeping him away from his friends and hard at work.
  6. (transitive) To protect, guard (someone from something).
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.viii:
      cursse on thy cruell hond, / That twise hath sped; yet shall it not thee keepe / From the third brunt of this my fatall brond [...].
    May the Lord keep you from harm.
  7. (intransitive) To continue.
    I keep taking the tablets, but to no avail.
  8. (intransitive) To remain edible or otherwise usable.
    Potatoes can keep if they are in a root cellar.
    Latex paint won't keep indefinitely.
  9. (intransitive, copulative) To remain in a state.
    The rabbit avoided detection by keeping still.
  10. (intransitive, cricket) To act as wicket-keeper.
    Godfrey Evans kept for England for many years.
  11. (transitive, of livestock) to raise; to care for.
    • 1914, Robert Joos, Success with Hens, Forbes & company, page 217:
      Of course boys are boys and need watching, but there is little watching necessary when they keep chickens.
  12. (transitive) to supply with necessities and financially support a person.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Look at pages starting with keep.

Terms derived from the verb keep

Related terms

Noun

Wikipedia has an article on: Keep

Wikipedia keep (plural keeps)

  1. (obsolete) Care, notice.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book VII:
      So Sir Gareth strayned hym so that his olde wounde braste ayen on bledynge; but he was hote and corragyous and toke no kepe, but with his grete forse he strake downe the knyght [...].
  2. (historical) The main tower of a castle or fortress, located within the castle walls.
  3. The food or money required to keep someone alive and healthy; one's support, maintenance.
    He works as a cobbler's apprentice for his keep.

Derived terms

Translations

main tower
  • Danish: kernetårn da(da) n., borgtårn da(da) n., barfred da(da) c.
  • Finnish: keskustorni
  • German: Burgfried m.
  • Italian: torrione it(it) m.
  • Norwegian: borgtårn no(no)
  • Spanish: torre del homenaje f.
support
  • Malayalam: സംരക്ഷണം ml(ml) (samrakshana)
  • Norwegian: forpleining no(no) c., underhold no(no)

See also

Anagrams

Estonian

Noun

keep

  1. cloak, capote, gaberdine

Middle English

Noun

keep

  1. note
    take keep — “take note”
    • Chaucer, G.P. 503-4:
      And shame it is, if a preest take keep
      A shiten shepherde and a clene sheep

Yucatec Maya

Pronunciation

Noun

keep (plural keepo’ob)

  1. (anatomy) penis

Synonyms

 

The above information uses material from Wiktionary and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Some facts may not have been fully verified for accuracy. [Disclaimers]
This page was last archived by our server on Thu Jun 16 22:53:27 2011.
Displaying this page or its contents does not use any Wikimedia Foundation's resources.
The owners of this site proudly support the Wikimedia Foundation.

More Definition Results for "Keep"
[Hide]▼
[Hide]▲