keep 
hlch keeps up the action is the desire to 
Locke. 
3271 
To keep In with. See ini, adv. To keep on, to go 
forward ; proceed ; continue to advance. 
The Pontlc sea. 
Whose Icy current and compulsive course 
Ne'er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on 
To the Propontic and the Hellespont. 
Shak., Othello, ill. 3,455. 
To keep to, to adhere strictly to ; avoid neglecting or 
uYviating from: as, to keep to old customs; to keep to a 
rule ; to keep to one's word or promise. 
Not finding the Governour kceptoblt agreement with me; 
nor seeing by his carriage towards others any great rea- 
son I had to expect he would, I began to wish my tell 
away again. Dampier, Voyages, L 618. 
Well, If they had kept to that, I should not have been 
such an enemy to the stage. Sheridan, The Critic, L 1. 
To keep up, to remain unsubdued, as by Illness, age, or 
grief be yet active, or not confined to one's bed ; not to 
ueio.e fall behind. [Colloq.] 
Owen Meredith, Wanderer, III. keep (kep), . [< ME. kepe, heed, care; < keep, 
.] If. Heed; notice; care. 
We love no man that taketh kepe or charge 
Wher that we goon ; we wol ben at our large. 
Chaucer, ProL to Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 321. 
Youth Is least looked vnto when they stand [In] most 
neede of good kepe and regard. 
Aschain, The Scholemaster, p. 60. 
In Joy, that 
continue It. 
(c) To maintain In good order or condition: as, to pay so 
much a your i ;rave. To keep up to the col- 
lar to keep hard at work ; " keep at it " : In allusion to tho 
stra'ining of a working horse against his collar. [Colloq.] 
Not that he ncgleeted these [the proper studies of the 
place], for Hunlv '";<' dim pretty well up to tlie collar, and 
he passed his little go m-.lituMy. 
'I'. Iliif/hei, Tom Brown at Oxford, II. xil. 
= Syn. 7, etc. Keep, Retain, Reserve. Keep Is a very general 
Idiomatic word, meaning, in this relation, not to dispose 
of or part witli ; hold on to : as, to sell half and keep half. 
Retain covers the idea of not giving tip where there is oc- 
casion or opportunity : as, to surrender on condition that 
the officers retain their side-arms. To reserve is to keep 
back at a time or in an act In which other things are given 
up ; also, to keep back for a time : as, to reserve judgment 
They only fall, that strive to move, 
Or lose, that care to kerp. 
Why should not man, 
Ketaininy still divine similitude 
In part, from such deformities be free? 
Milton, P. L., xt 512. 
Hast thou not retened a blessing for me? Gen. xxvlL 36. 
These Jests are out of season ; 
Reserve them till a merrier hour than this. 
Shak., C. of E., I. 2, 69. 
6. Keep, Defend, Protect, Shelter, Preserve. Keep Is the 
general word in this relation also. To defend Is to keep by 
warding off attacks; the word does not so much Imply 
success as the others do. To protect is to keep by cover- 
ing from danger. To shelter is to keep by covering on one 
side, or on all sides, especially above, from exposure. Shel- 
ter aeema figurative when not applied to keeping from ex- 
posure to the weather, and protect and dcfeml when not 
applied to the physical. To preserve Is in various senses 
to protect or keep from destruction or Injury : as, to pre- 
serve forests, the bank of a river, fruit, vested rights, life, 
or one's dignity. 
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor 
sleep. Ps- cxxl. 4. 
Nor could the Muse defend 
Her son. Muton, P. L., vli. 37. 
In youth It sheltered me, 
And I'll protect it now. 
G. P. Moms, Woodman, Spare that Tree ! 
History has sometimes been called a gallery, where in 
living forms are preserved the scenes, the Incidents, and 
the characters of the past. Sumner, Orations, I. 201. 
2 and 3. Observe, Commemorate, etc. Sec celebrate. 
II. intrans. If. To care; be solicitous. 
" Sir preest," he seyde. " I kepe han [to have) no loos 
Of my craft, for I wolde it kept were cloos." 
Chaucer, Canon's Yeoman's Tale, 1. 867. 
The third me thinks shruggingly saith, I kept not to sit 
sleeping with my Poesie till a Queeue came and kissed me. 
r mi, aim in. Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 15. 
2f. To take care ; be on the watch ; be heed- 
ful. 
Keep that the lusts shake not the word of God that is 
In us. Tyndale. 
3. To lodge ; dwell ; hold one's self, as in an 
abiding-place. [Now colloq. or rare.] 
Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps. 
Shak., Tit. And., v. 2, 6. 
The Tarentines [Indians] . . . rifled a wigwam where 
Mr. Cradock's men kept to catch sturgeon, took away their 
nets and biscuit, Ac. Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 72. 
But yet he could not keep 
Here with the shepherds and the silly sheep. 
X. Arnold, Thyrsis. 
He was foolish enough to tell where these quail kept 
In his orchard. Forest and Stream, XXVIII. 252. 
4. To keep one's self ; remain; stay; continue: 
as, to keep at a distance : to keep in with some 
one; to keen out of sight; hence, in familiar 
speech, used with a present participle almost as 
an auxiliary of continuous or repeated action : 
as, he keeps moving ; she kept crying out; they 
have kept asking for it this hour past. 
Those that arc married already, all but one, shall live ; 
the rest shall keep as they are. ShaJr., Hamlet, 111. 1, 166. 
The Privateers keep out of their way, having always In- 
telligence where they [the Barralaventa Beet] are. 
Dampier, Voyages, II. 11. 126. 
We kept down the left bank of the river for a little dis- 
tance, and then struck Into the woods. 
B. Taylor, Northern Travel, p. 48. 
Innumerable instances are known to every naturalist 
of species keeping true, or not varying at all, although liv- 
ing under thu most opposite climates. 
Darwin, Origin of Species, p. 189. 
All the place is holy ground ; . . . 
So keep where you are : you are foul with sin. 
Tennyson, The Poet's Mind. 
5. To last; endure; continue unimpaired. 
If the malt is not thoroughly dried, the ale it makes 
will not keep. Mortimer, Husbandry. 
And unto Morpheus comes, whom drowned deepe 
In drowsie flt he nudes : of nothing he takes kerpe. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. L 40. 
2f. Custody; keeping; oversight. 
For In liaptista's keep my treasure Is. 
Shak., T. of the S., I. 2, 118. 
If the Justice have the maid In keep, 
You need not fear the marriage of your son. 
B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, 111. -2. 
3f. That which is kept or cared for; charge. 
Often he used of hys keeps 
A sacrifice to bring, 
Nowe with a Kldde, now with a sheepe, 
The Altars hallowing. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal., July. 
4. The stronghold or citadel of a medieval 
castle; the in- 
nermost and 
strongest struc- 
ture or central 
tower. It was the 
final dependence 
for keeping the cas- 
tle against assault. 
In the lower parts 
of the structure 
prisoners were kept, 
with stores, etc.; 
and in the upper 
parts the family 
lived, especially in 
times of danger. 
Also called dun- 
geon or dfinjon,dun- 
geon-keep, or dun- 
geon -tower. See 
dungeon, donjon. 
It stands on a 
knowle, which, tho' 
insensibly rising, 
gives it a prospect 
over the keepe of 
Windsor, about 
three miles N. E. 
of it. 
Evelyn, Memoirs, 
[Oct. 23, 1686. 
My malice is no deeper than a moat, 
No stronger than a wall : there is the keep; 
He shall not cross us more. Tennyson, Geraint 
B. Subsistence ; board and lodging ; mainte- 
nance or means of subsistence : as, the keep 
of a horse. [Colloq.] 
I performed some services to the college In return for 
my keep. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, I. % ill. 
Moreover, we could not bear the idea that she should 
labor for her keep. R. D. Blackmore, Lorna Doone, xlvi. 
6. pi. In coal-mining, wings, catches, or rests for 
holding the cage when it is brought to rest at 
some point above the bottom of the shaft. See 
cagc-slitite. 7. A meat-safe. HalliiceU. [Prov. 
Eng.] 8. A large basket. [Prov. Eng.] 9. 
A reservoir for fish by the side of a river. 
[Prov. Eng.] For keeps, to be kept or retained; to 
bo held or retained as one s own ; for good : as, to play 
marbles for keeps (that is, each player to retain the mar- 
bles he wins). | r. 8.] 
We, the undersigned, promise not to play marbles for 
keeps, nor bet nor gamble in any way. 
The Advance, Dec. 9, 1886. 
Out at keep, feeding in a hired pasture. HaHiwett. 
Keep or Donjon of theCastle of Coucy.Aisne, 
France, as seen from the inner court- 
(Prov. Eng.] 
The best fruits of the season fall latest and keep the keeper (ke'p*r), . [< ME. keperc; < keep, e., 
longest, Alcott, Tablets, p. 134. + _,.,-!.] i. One who keeps, observes, or obeys. 
The dam was a subject of conversation that would keep. I am a keeper of the law 
George Eliot, Mill on the Floss, i. 3. In Kme 8ma . points, altho' not a'. 
To keep at It, to continue hard at work ; persist. (Col- Burns, Verses to John Rankine. 
S!&M%S!Sr^rSS;^ SS fr m ' ' 8. One **o *"*' "hwge 1 ^ping of any- 
Yttf ::^,r J &. fflfc m JSO^'SSSi^Si 
206 
keeping 
keeper of the seals; a houseAV 
/.</ r. 
Hit spckfth of richo men ryght nouW 
liotc of clennesse and of clerkea an/ 
Piers I 
And the lord said untoCaln, Wh 
And he said, I know not : Am I my 1 
Yonng Logic 's laid In Edinburgh chapel, 
I'annlchael 's the keeper o' the key. 
The Laird o' Loyu (Child's Ballads, IV. llo). 
The persecuted animals [raU] bolted above-ground : the 
terrier accounted for one, the keeper (gamekeeper! for an- 
other. Thackeray, Vanity Kalr, xlr. 
3. One who maintains or carries on as propri- 
etor; an owner or independent controller: as, 
a storekeeper; an innkeeper. 
Now here is a man . . . who is really nothing but a 
weakly, aged keeper of a little shoe-store in a village. 
W. M. Baker, New Timothy, p. 187. 
4. One who stays or abides. 
To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home. Titus IL 5. 
6. One who holds or maintains possession. 
He will have need of getters and keepers. 
L. Wallace, Ben-Hur, p. 238. 
6. That which keeps; something that serves as 
a guard or protection. Specifically (a) A ring which 
keeps another on the finger. See guard-ring. 
Quite devoid of any Jeweller's ware, save her wedding 
ring and kefper. Q. A. Sola, Baddlngton Peerage, II. 111. 
(ft) A key which admits of being readily Inserted and re- 
moved at pleasure to keep an object in its place. 
It [a glove-fastener] has a cylindrical keeper with one 
lower edge struck up to form a lip, and a radial locking 
bar, with a series of teeth on the under surface, adapted 
to project through the keeper and engage the lip. 
Sri. Amer., N. S., LVIII. 408. 
(e) A loop on the end of a strap fitted with a buckle, through 
which the other end la run after passing through the 
buckle ; a small clasp, (d) The box on a door-Jamb into 
which the bolt of a lock protrudes when shot, (e) A Jam- 
nut. (/) A piece of soft iron placed in contact with the 
poles of a magnet when not In use, which tends, by In- 
duction, to maintain and even increase the power of the 
magnet ; an armature. (g) In the electromagnet of a dy- 
namo, one of the lateral projections from the polar extremi- 
ties to bring them just as near to the revolving armature 
as they can be without actually touching It. (A) A reel- 
keeper, (i) The mousing of a hook, which keeps it from be- 
ing accidentally disengaged. (J) Tne gripper of the flint In 
a flint-lock gun. Keeper of the Great Seal, or Lord 
Keeper, a high officer of state In Great Britain, who has the 
custody of the great seaL The office is now vested in the 
lord chancellor. Keeper of the king's conscience, the 
lord chancellor. See chancellor, 3 (). Keeper of the 
Privy Seal, or Lord Privy Seal, a British officer of state, 
through whose hands pass all charters, pardons, etc., be- 
fore they come to the great seal. He Is a privy-councilor, 
and was formerly called Clerk of the Privy Seal. 
keeperess (ke'per-es), n. [< keeper + -ens.] A 
female keeper, custodian, or warden. 
In Drayton House (a lunatic asylum) the krrptretses 
eclipsed the keepers In cruelty to the poorer patients. 
C. Reade, Hard Cash, xlL 
keeper/less (ke'per-les), . [< keeper + -less.'] 
Without the supervision or care of a keeper; 
free from restraint, custody, or superinten- 
dence. 
Among the group was a man . . . who, of all the peo- 
ple accounted sane and permitted to go about the world 
keeperless, I hold to have been the most decidedly mad. 
T. Book, Gilbert tiurney, I. 11L 
keepership (ke'per-ship), n. [< keeper + -ship.] 
The office of a keeper. 
The earl gave the former a tan-house, and keepership of 
one of his games. Strype, Queen Mary, an. 1566. 
keep r friendt. . [< keep, r., + obi. friend.] 
An iron ring with a chain attached, used to 
confine a prisoner. 
And he had besides two iron rings about his neck, the 
one of the chain, and the other of that kind which are 
called a keep-friend, or the foot of a friend, from whence 
descended two Irons unto his middle. 
History of Don Quixote, 1678, f . 45. (Wares.) 
keeping (ke'ping), . [< ME. kepynge ; verbal 
n. otkeep, r.] 1. Care; custody; charge. 
This mayden was the feirest lady that ener was In eny 
londe; this same maiden haddo in kepynge the Missed 
selut Graal. Merlin (E. E. T. 8.), IL 229. 
He swore us thus, never to let this treasure 
Part from our secret keepings. 
Fletcher, Loyal Subject, il. 6. 
This morning I wrote to my banker in London to send 
me certain Jewels he has In his keeping heir-looms for 
the ladles of Thomneld. 
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, xxiv. 
2f. Guardian care ; guard ; watch. 
In that Cesonne, that the Bawme Is growynge. Men put 
there to [thereto] gode kepynge, that no Man dar hen hardy 
to entre. Mandevulc, Travels, p. 50. 
3. Maintenance; support; subsistence; feed; 
fodder: as, the cattle have good keeping. 
Call you that keeping for a gentleman of my birth, that 
differs not from the stalling of an ox! 
Shak., As you Like It, 1. 1, 9. 
