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.
2. To last; to endure; to remain unimpaired.
If the malt be not thoroughly dried, the ale it
makes will not keep. --Mortimer.
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.
--Shak.
4. To take care; to be solicitous; to watch. [Obs.]
Keep that the lusts choke not the word of God that
is in us. --Tyndale.
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.
Pan, thou god of shepherds all, Which of our tender
lambkins takest keep. --Spenser.
2. The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition;
case; as, to be in good keep.
3. The means or provisions by which one is kept; maintenance;
support; as, the keep of a horse.
Grass equal to the keep of seven cows. --Carlyle.
I performed some services to the college in return
for my keep. --T. Hughes.
4. 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}.
The prison strong, Within whose keep the captive
knights were laid. --Dryden.
The lower chambers of those gloomy keeps. --Hallam.
I think . . . the keep, or principal part of a
castle, was so called because the lord and his
domestic circle kept, abode, or lived there. --M. A.
Lower.
5. That which is kept in charge; a charge. [Obs.]
Often he used of his keep A sacrifice to bring.
--Spenser.
6. (Mach.) A cap for retaining anything, as a journal box, in
place.
{To take keep}, to take care; to heed. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
1. With reference to space or place; as, he lives in Boston;
he traveled in Italy; castles in the air.
The babe lying in a manger. --Luke ii. 16.
Thy sun sets weeping in the lowly west. --Shak.
Situated in the forty-first degree of latitude.
--Gibbon.
Matter for censure in every page. --Macaulay.
2. With reference to circumstances or conditions; as, he is
in difficulties; she stood in a blaze of light. ``Fettered
in amorous chains.'' --Shak.
Wrapt in sweet sounds, as in bright veils.
--Shelley.
3. With reference to a whole which includes or comprises the
part spoken of; as, the first in his family; the first
regiment in the army.
Nine in ten of those who enter the ministry.
--Swift.
4. With reference to physical surrounding, personal states,
etc., abstractly denoted; as, I am in doubt; the room is
in darkness; to live in fear.
When shall we three meet again, In thunder,
lightning, or in rain? --Shak.
5. With reference to character, reach, scope, or influence
considered as establishing a limitation; as, to be in
one's favor. ``In sight of God's high throne.'' --Milton.
Sounds inharmonious in themselves, and harsh.
--Cowper.
6. With reference to movement or tendency toward a certain
limit or environment; -- sometimes equivalent to into; as,
to put seed in the ground; to fall in love; to end in
death; to put our trust in God.
He would not plunge his brother in despair.
--Addison.
She had no jewels to deposit in their caskets.
--Fielding.
7. With reference to a limit of time; as, in an hour; it
happened in the last century; in all my life.
{In as much as}, or {Inasmuch as}, in the degree that; in
like manner as; in consideration that; because that;
since. See {Synonym} of {Because}, and cf. {For as much
as}, under {For}, prep.
{In that}, because; for the reason that. ``Some things they
do in that they are men . . .; some things in that they
are men misled and blinded with error.'' --Hooker.
{In the name of}, in behalf of; on the part of; by authority;
as, it was done in the name of the people; -- often used
in invocation, swearing, praying, and the like.
{To be in for it}.
(a) To be in favor of a thing; to be committed to a
course.
(b) To be unable to escape from a danger, penalty, etc.
[Colloq.]
{To be} (or {keep}) {in with}.
(a) To be close or near; as, to keep a ship in with the
land.
(b) To be on terms of friendship, familiarity, or intimacy
with; to secure and retain the favor of. [Colloq.]
Syn: Into; within; on; at. See {At}.