v.
1 retain, hold, hang on to, preserve, conserve, have, save, maintain, control:
The difficulty is not in making money but in keeping it.
2 hold, have, take care or charge of, mind, tend, care for, look after, guard, keep an eye on, watch over, protect, safeguard; maintain, feed, nourish, victual, board, nurture, provide for, provision:
Would you keep this parcel for me until I return? They keep chickens and ducks
3 accumulate, save (up), amass, hoard (up), husband, retain, preserve, put or stow away:
My brother has kept all the toys he ever had.
4 maintain, store, preserve:
I keep woollen things in a cedar chest.
5 Often, keep on or at. continue, carry on, persist (in), persevere (in); prolong, sustain:
How did you keep going after Elsa's death? She kept at it all night long. Keep on working till I tell you to stop
6 keep to, abide by, follow, obey, mind, adhere to, attend to, pay attention to, heed, regard, observe, respect, acknowledge, defer to, accede (to), agree (to):
Only a stickler would keep the letter of such a law.
7 stay, remain:
Keep off the grass. Keep to the left.
8 support, finance, provide for, subsidize, maintain:
He kept a mistress in Chelsea.
9 confine, detain; imprison, incarcerate, jail or Brit also gaol:
The police have kept him overnight.
10 celebrate, observe, solemnize, memorialize, commemorate:
We always kept Easter at my mother's house in the country.
11 last, be preserved, survive, stand up, stay fresh:
Eggs keep longer in the refrigerator.
12 harbour, maintain, safeguard, keep dark:
13 keep from. prevent, keep or hold back, restrain, (hold in) check, restrict, prohibit, forbid, inhibit, disallow, block, obstruct, deny, curb, deter, discourage:
How can I keep my plants from dying while I'm away?
14 keep in.
(a) keep or hold back, repress, suppress, stifle, smother, muzzle, bottle up, withhold, conceal, hide, shroud, mask, camouflage:
She keeps in her true feelings. He could hardly keep in the tears.
(b) confine, shut in or up, coop up, detain; fence in:
Keith thought the teacher kept him in after school because she liked him.
n.
15 upkeep, maintenance, support, room and board, subsistence, food, sustenance, living:
He works hard to earn his keep.
16 donjon, tower, dungeon:
He was imprisoned in the keep of the castle for twenty years.