Keep word meaning and definition

[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"; "he could no longer earn his own livelihood"
[verb] prevent from rotting, as of foods; "preserved meats"; "keep potatoes fresh"
[verb] observe correctly or closely; "The pianist kept time with the metronome"; "keep count"; "I cannot keep track of all my employees"
[verb] maintain by writing regular records; "keep a diary"; "maintain a record"; "keep notes"
[verb] supply with necessities and support; "She alone sustained her family"; "The money will sustain our good cause"; "There's little to earn and many to keep"
[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"; "She keeps a sixpack and a week's worth of supplies in the refrigerator"
[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"; "keep open the possibility of a merger"
[verb] allow to remain in a place or position; "We cannot continue several servants any longer"; "She retains a lawyer"; "The family's fortune waned and they could not keep their household staff"; "Our grant has run out and we cannot keep you on"; "We kept the work going as long as we could"
[verb] keep under control; keep in check; "suppress a smile"; "Keep your temper"; "keep your cool"
[verb] prevent from doing something or being in a certain state; "We must prevent the cancer from spreading"; "His snoring kept me from falling asleep"; "Keep the child from eating the marbles"
[verb] celebrate, as of holidays or rites; "Keep the commandments"; "celebrate Christmas"; "Observe Yom Kippur"
[verb] conform one's action or practice to; "keep appointments"; "she never keeps her promises"; "We kept to the original conditions of the contract"
[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"; "The students keep me on my toes"
[verb] continue a certain state, condition, or activity; "Keep on working!"; "We continued to work into the night"; "Keep smiling"; "We went on working until well past midnight"
[verb] maintain in safety form injury, harm, or danger; "May God keep you"
[verb] fail to spoil or rot; "These potatoes keep for a long time"

\Keep\ (k[=e]p), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Kept}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Keeping}.] [OE. k?pen, AS. c?pan to keep, regard, desire, await, take, betake; cf. AS. copenere lover, OE. copnien to desire.] 1. To care; to desire. [Obs.] 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.

Morse code: -.- . . .--.