keep
v.v. to continue having or holding something so you do not lose it. You also use it to describe doing an action again and again without stopping.
v. to retain possession of something or to continue a specified state, condition, or activity. Often functions as a catenative verb followed by a gerund to indicate habitual or continuous action.
You can keep the change from the coffee.
If you keep practicing every day, your English will improve much faster than you expect.
The museum struggled to keep the fragile artifacts in a climate-controlled environment while the main ventilation system was undergoing extensive repairs.
From Middle English kepen (“to keep, guard, look after, watch”), from Old English cēpan (“to seize, hold, observe”), from Proto-West Germanic kōpijan, from Proto-Germanic kōpijaną (“to look, heed, watch, observe”) (compare West Frisian kypje (“to look”)), from Proto-Indo-European ǵab-, ǵāb- (“to look after”) (compare Lithuanian žẽbti (“to eat reluctantly”), Russian забо́та (zabóta, “care, worry”)). The dialectal sense of the verb meaning “to put back” or “put away” may be analyzed as a semantic loan from a local language—compare Welsh cadw and Mandarin 收 (shōu).
From Middle English kepe, kep, from the verb (see above).
When followed by another action, use the -ing form (gerund), not the infinitive.
I keep to study every night.I keep studying every night.When used to mean 'continue', this verb must be followed by a gerund (-ing), not a 'to' infinitive.
- 01
cobbler, keep to your last
One should not criticise matters outside one's field of expertise; one should mind one's business.
- 02
earn one's keep
To perform satisfactory physical labor or to provide other worthy services in return for remuneration, lodging, or other benefits; to support oneself financially.
- 03
keep a civil tongue in one's head
To maintain a polite manner of speaking.