I kepe not of armes for to yelp [boast]. --Chaucer.
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.
--Shak.
That I may know what keeps me here with you.
--Dryden.
If we would weigh and keep in our minds what we are
considering, that would instruct us. --Locke.
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. --Milton.
Keep a stiff rein, and move but gently on.
--Addison.
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.''
--Addison.
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. --Knolles.
5. To preserve from danger, harm, or loss; to guard.
Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee. --Gen.
xxviii. 15.
6. To preserve from discovery or publicity; not to
communicate, reveal, or betray, as a secret.
Great are thy virtues . . . though kept from man.
--Milton.
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. --Gen.
ii. 15.
In her girlish age, she kept sheep on the moor.
--Carew.
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. --Shak.
Every one of them kept house by himself. --Hayward.
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. --Shak.
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. --Shak.
Within this portal as I kept my watch. --Smollett.
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. --2 Tim. iv.
7.
Him whom to love is to obey, and keep His great
command. --Milton.
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. --Shak.
'Tis hallowed ground; Fairies, and fawns, and
satyrs do it keep. --J. Fletcher.
16. To observe duty, 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. --Ps. xlii. 4.
{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.'' --Jer. xlii. 4.
(b) To restrain; to hold back. ``Keep back thy servant
also from presumptuous sins.'' --Ps. xix. 13.
{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} (or {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.] --Mozley & W.
{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.'' --Locke.
Syn: To retain; detain; reserve; preserve; hold; restrain;
maintain; sustain; support; withhold. -- To {Keep}.
Usage: {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.
Not amiss to cool a man's stomach this hot weather.
--Shak.
Fair weather cometh out of the north. --Job xxxvii.
22.
2. Vicissitude of season; meteorological change; alternation
of the state of the air. --Bacon.
What gusts of weather from that gathering cloud My
thoughts presage! --Dryden.
4. A light rain; a shower. [Obs.] --Wyclif.
{Stress of weather}, violent winds; force of tempests.
{To make fair weather}, to flatter; to give flattering
representations. [R.]
{To make good}, or {bad}, {weather} (Naut.), to endure a gale
well or ill; -- said of a vessel. --Shak.
{Under the weather}, ill; also, financially embarrassed.
[Colloq. U. S.] --Bartlett.
{Weather box}. Same as {Weather house}, below. --Thackeray.
{Weather breeder}, a fine day which is supposed to presage
foul weather.
{Weather bureau}, a popular name for the signal service. See
{Signal service}, under {Signal}, a. [U. S.]
{Weather cloth} (Naut.), a long piece of canvas of tarpaulin
used to preserve the hammocks from injury by the weather
when stowed in the nettings.
{Weather door}. (Mining) See {Trapdoor}, 2.
{Weather gall}. Same as {Water gall}, 2. [Prov. Eng.]
--Halliwell.
{Weather house}, a mechanical contrivance in the form of a
house, which indicates changes in atmospheric conditions
by the appearance or retirement of toy images.
Peace to the artist whose ingenious thought Devised
the weather house, that useful toy! --Cowper.
{Weather moulding} (Arch.), a canopy or cornice over a door
or a window, to throw off the rain.
{Weather of a windmill sail}, the obliquity of the sail, or
the angle which it makes with its plane of revolution.
{Weather report}, a daily report of meteorological
observations, and of probable changes in the weather;
esp., one published by government authority.
{Weather spy}, a stargazer; one who foretells the weather.
[R.] --Donne.
{Weather strip} (Arch.), a strip of wood, rubber, or other
material, applied to an outer door or window so as to
cover the joint made by it with the sill, casings, or
threshold, in order to exclude rain, snow, cold air, etc.
Note: Sometimes used substantively.
The strong antipathy of good to bad. --Pope.
Syn: Pernicious; deleterious; noxious; baneful; injurious;
hurtful; evil; vile; wretched; corrupt; wicked; vicious;
imperfect.
2. To offer in words; to declare, as a wish, a greeting, a
threat, or defiance, etc.; as, to bid one welcome; to bid
good morning, farewell, etc.
Neither bid him God speed. --2. John 10.
He bids defiance to the gaping crowd. --Granrille.
3. To proclaim; to declare publicly; to make known. [Mostly
obs.] ``Our banns thrice bid !'' --Gay.
4. To order; to direct; to enjoin; to command.
That Power who bids the ocean ebb and flow. --Pope
Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee. --Matt.
xiv. 28
I was bid to pick up shells. --D. Jerrold.
5. To invite; to call in; to request to come.
As many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
--Matt. xxii.
9
{To bid beads}, to pray with beads, as the Roman Catholics;
to distinguish each bead by a prayer. [Obs.]
{To bid defiance to}, to defy openly; to brave.
{To bid fair}, to offer a good prospect; to make fair
promise; to seem likely.
Syn: To offer; proffer; tender; propose; order; command;
direct; charge; enjoin.