keep
keep is a 4-letter English word with 52 senses as transitive verb, intransitive verb, noun, and verb in the JumbleFix dictionary. One common meaning is: To care; to desire. Face value is 10 in Scrabble and 11 in Words With Friends. Use the entries below when you need a playable sense, a nearby word, or another arrangement of the same letters.
Definitions
- transitive verb. To care; to desire.
- transitive verb. 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.
- transitive verb. To cause to remain in a given situation or condition; to maintain unchanged; to hold or preserve in any state or tenor.
- transitive verb. To have in custody; to have in some place for preservation; to take charge of.
- transitive verb. To preserve from danger, harm, or loss; to guard.
- transitive verb. To preserve from discovery or publicity; not to communicate, reveal, or betray, as a secret.
- transitive verb. To attend upon; to have the care of; to tend.
- transitive verb. To record transactions, accounts, or events in; as, to keep books, a journal, etc. ; also, to enter (as accounts, records, etc. ) in a book.
- transitive verb. To maintain, as an establishment, institution, or the like; to conduct; to manage; as, to keep store.
- transitive verb. To supply with necessaries of life; to entertain; as, to keep boarders.
- transitive verb. To have in one's service; to have and maintain, as an assistant, a servant, a mistress, a horse, etc.
- transitive verb. To have habitually in stock for sale.
- transitive verb. 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.
- transitive verb. 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.
- transitive verb. 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.
- transitive verb. To observe duty, as a festival, etc. ; to celebrate; to solemnize; as, to keep a feast.
- intransitive verb. 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.
- intransitive verb. To last; to endure; to remain unimpaired.
- intransitive verb. To reside for a time; to lodge; to dwell.
- intransitive verb. To take care; to be solicitous; to watch.
- intransitive verb. To be in session; as, school keeps to-day.
- noun. The act or office of keeping; custody; guard; care; heed; charge.
- noun. The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case; as, to be in good keep.
- noun. The means or provisions by which one is kept; maintenance; support; as, the keep of a horse.
- noun. 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.
- noun. That which is kept in charge; a charge.
- noun. A cap for retaining anything, as a journal box, in place.
- noun. a cell in a jail or prison
- noun. the main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress
- noun. the financial means whereby one lives
"each child was expected to pay for their keep"
"he applied to the state for support"
- verb. prevent (food) from rotting
"preserved meats"
"keep potatoes fresh"
- verb. stick to correctly or closely
"The pianist kept time with the metronome"
"keep count"
- verb. maintain by writing regular records
"keep a diary"
"maintain a record"
- verb. supply with necessities and support
"She alone sustained her family"
"The money will sustain our good cause"
- verb. hold and prevent from leaving
"The student was kept after school"
- verb. retain possession of
"Can I keep my old stuffed animals?"
"She kept her maiden name after she married"
- verb. look after; be the keeper of; have charge of
"He keeps the shop when I am gone"
- verb. maintain for use and service
"I keep a car in the countryside"
"She keeps an apartment in Paris for her shopping trips"
- verb. have as a supply
"I always keep batteries in the freezer"
"keep food for a week in the pantry"
- verb. store or keep customarily
"Where do you keep your gardening tools?"
- verb. retain rights to
"keep my job for me while I give birth"
"keep my seat, please"
- verb. allow to remain in a place or position or maintain a property or feature
"We cannot continue several servants any longer"
"She retains a lawyer"
- verb. keep under control; keep in check
"suppress a smile"
"Keep your temper"
- verb. stop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state
"We must prevent the cancer from spreading"
"His snoring kept me from falling asleep"
- verb. behave as expected during of holidays or rites
"Keep the commandments"
"celebrate Christmas"
- verb. conform one's action or practice to
"keep appointments"
"she never keeps her promises"
- verb. supply with room and board
"He is keeping three women in the guest cottage"
"keep boarders"
- verb. raise
"She keeps a few chickens in the yard"
"he keeps bees"
- verb. keep in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., "keep clean"
"hold in place"
"She always held herself as a lady"
- verb. continue a certain state, condition, or activity
"Keep on working!"
"We continued to work into the night"
- verb. maintain in safety from injury, harm, or danger
"May God keep you"
- verb. fail to spoil or rot
"These potatoes keep for a long time"
Synonyms
hold, donjon, dungeon, livelihood, living, support, sustenance, preserve, maintain, observe, sustain, save, continue, retain, restrain, prevent, celebrate, proceed
Anagrams
Other playable words that use exactly the letters in keep:
Common word forms
keeps, keeper, keeping, keepable
Words from these letters
If you are holding these tiles, the unscrambler for KEEP lists every valid word you can make from the same letters, including shorter plays.