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Kept   /kɛpt/  /kæpt/   Listen
verb
Keep  v. t.  (past & past part. kept; pres. part. keeping)  
1.
To care; to desire. (Obs.) "I kepe not of armes for to yelp (boast)."
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." "That I may know what keeps me here with you." "If we would weigh and keep in our minds what we are considering, that would instruct us."
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." "Keep a stiff rein, and move but gently on." 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."
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."
5.
To preserve from danger, harm, or loss; to guard. "Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee."
6.
To preserve from discovery or publicity; not to communicate, reveal, or betray, as a secret. "Great are thy virtues... though kept from man."
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." "In her girlish age, she kept sheep on the moor."
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." "Every one of them kept house by himself."
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."
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." "Within this portal as I kept my watch."
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." "Him whom to love is to obey, and keep His great command."
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. "'Tis hallowed ground; Fairies, and fawns, and satyrs do it keep."
16.
To observe duly, 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."
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."
(b)
To restrain; to hold back. "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins."
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 hours or To keep 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.)
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."
Synonyms: To retain; detain; reserve; preserve; hold; restrain; maintain; sustain; support; withhold. To Keep. 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.  (past & past part. kept; pres. part. keeping)  
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."
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."
4.
To take care; to be solicitous; to watch. (Obs.) "Keep that the lusts choke not the word of God that is in us."
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.


kept  v.  Imp. & p. p. of Keep.
Kept woman, Kept mistress, a concubine; a woman supported by a man as his paramour.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Kept" Quotes from Famous Books



... could have got a little money out of him," Rawdon said to his wife moodily when the Baronet was gone. "I should like to give something to old Raggles, hanged if I shouldn't. It ain't right, you know, that the old fellow should be kept out of all his money. It may be inconvenient, and he might let to somebody else besides us, ...
— Vanity Fair • William Makepeace Thackeray
... passing, is the livelihood of thousands who are strong enough to look every night into an abyss without getting a vertigo. With his four hundred francs, Philippe resolved to make his fortune that day. He put aside, in his boots, two hundred francs, and kept the other two hundred in his pocket. At three o'clock he went to the gambling-house (which is now turned into the theatre of the Palais-Royal), where the bank accepted the largest sums. He came out half an hour later with seven thousand francs in his pocket. ...
— The Celibates - Includes: Pierrette, The Vicar of Tours, and The Two Brothers • Honore de Balzac
... tore away both skin and flesh, which threw me into a swoon. In this state he caused the same slaves, the executioners of his fury, to carry me into a house, where the old woman took care of me. I kept my bed four months; at last I recovered: the scars which, contrary to my wish, you saw yesterday, ...
— The Arabian Nights Entertainments Complete • Anonymous
... letter of Roland, in every part of it, lets out the secret of all the parties in this Revolution. Plena rimarum est; hoc atque illac perfluit. We see that none of them condemn the occasional practice of murder,—provided it is properly applied,—provided it is kept within the bounds which each of those parties think proper to prescribe. In this case Roland feared, that, if what was occasionally useful should become habitual, the practice might go further than was convenient. It might involve the best friends of the last ...
— The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. V. (of 12) • Edmund Burke
... said Ethel, 'and that was his own notes. Ave has all that he has written to her from Whitford under her pillow, and she kept spreading them out, and making us read them, and—oh! their braveness and cheeriness—they did quite seem to hold one up! And then poor little Minna's constant little robin-chirp of faith, "God will not let them hurt him." One could not bear to tell ...
— The Trial - or, More Links of the Daisy Chain • Charlotte M. Yonge


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