Definition of keep

• v. t. - To care; to desire.
• v. t. - 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.
• v. t. - To cause to remain in a given situation or condition; to maintain unchanged; to hold or preserve in any state or tenor.
• v. t. - To have in custody; to have in some place for preservation; to take charge of.
• v. t. - To preserve from danger, harm, or loss; to guard.
• v. t. - To preserve from discovery or publicity; not to communicate, reveal, or betray, as a secret.
• v. t. - To attend upon; to have the care of; to tend.
• v. t. - To record transactions, accounts, or events in; as, to keep books, a journal, etc. ; also, to enter (as accounts, records, etc. ) in a book.
• v. t. - To maintain, as an establishment, institution, or the like; to conduct; to manage; as, to keep store.
• v. t. - To supply with necessaries of life; to entertain; as, to keep boarders.
• v. t. - To have in one's service; to have and maintain, as an assistant, a servant, a mistress, a horse, etc.
• v. t. - To have habitually in stock for sale.
• v. t. - 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.
• v. t. - 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.
• v. t. - 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.
• v. t. - To observe duty, as a festival, etc. ; to celebrate; to solemnize; as, to keep a feast.
• v. i. - 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.
• v. i. - To last; to endure; to remain unimpaired.
• v. i. - To reside for a time; to lodge; to dwell.
• v. i. - To take care; to be solicitous; to watch.
• v. i. - To be in session; as, school keeps to-day.
• n. - The act or office of keeping; custody; guard; care; heed; charge.
• n. - The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case; as, to be in good keep.
• n. - The means or provisions by which one is kept; maintenance; support; as, the keep of a horse.
• n. - 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.
• n. - That which is kept in charge; a charge.
• n. - A cap for retaining anything, as a journal box, in place.