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(kp), v. t.[imp. & p. p.Kept (kpt); p. pr. & vb. n.Keeping.] [OE. kpen, AS. cpan 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. 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 im Keep (), v. i. 1. 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. 2. To last; to endure; to remain unimpaired. If the malt be not thoroughly dried, the ale it makes will not keep. Mortimer. 3. To reside for a time; to lodge; to dwell. [Now disused except locally or colloquially.] Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps. Shak. 4. To take care; to be solicitous; to watch. [Obs.] Keep that the lusts choke not the word of God that is in us. Tyndale. 5. To be in session; as, school keeps to-day. [Colloq.] To keep from, to abstain or refrain from. To keep in with, to keep on good terms with; as, to keep in with an opponent. To keep on, to go forward; to proceed; to continue to advance. To keep to, to adhere strictly to; not to neglect or deviate from; as, to keep to old customs; to keep to a rule; to keep to one's word or Keep n. 1. The act or office of keeping; custody; guard; care; heed; charge. Chaucer. Pan, thou god of shepherds all, Which of our tender lambkins takest keep. Spenser. 2. The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case; as, to be in good keep. 3. The means or provisions by which one is kept; maintenance; support; as, the keep of a horse. Grass equal to the keep of seven cows. Carlyle. I performed some services to the college in return for my keep. T. Hughes. 4. 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. The prison strong, Within whose keep the captive knights were laid. Dryden. The lower chambers of those gloomy keeps. Hallam. I think . . . the keep, or principal part of a castle, was so called because the lord and his domestic circle kept, abode, or lived there. M. A. Lowe スポンサード リンク
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