Definition of "keep" [keep]

To retain possession of: kept the change; must keep your composure. (verb-transitive)
To have as a supply: keep an ax in the shed. (verb-transitive)
To provide (a family, for example) with maintenance and support: "There's little to earn and many to keep” ( Charles Kingsley). (verb-transitive)
To support (a mistress or lover) financially. (verb-transitive)
To put customarily; store: Where do you keep your saw? (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "keep" in a sentence

"In case of falling into the water, the chief thing to do is to try to keep calm and to _keep your hands below your chin_."
"He returns in haalf an hour with everything I need, and brings back this book which I keep, -- remember, gentlemen, which I _keep_, -- a mark of confidence which in this degen'rate age is refreshin '."
"If we are to _be_ in Christ when we are in Ephesus, we need to keep ourselves separate and faithful, and to _keep ourselves_ in"

Words like "keep"

accommodate book cell detain hold jail cell

keeping keeps kept lodge maintain preserve

prison cell protect remain reserve rest restrain

retain stay support sustain

to keep bad hours

withhold