keep on

Verb

keep on (third-person singular simple present keeps on, present participle keeping on, simple past and past participle kept on)

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To persist or continue.
   • Keep on trucking!
   • Mum, Jimmy keeps on poking me!

   Synonyms:

   continue, go on

2. (idiomatic, intransitive) To persist in talking about a subject, perhaps to the annoyance of the listener.
   • For goodness sake, will you stop keeping on about it!
   • Coppard was unequivocal when speaking to RAIL about this: "I'll keep on telling the government that MML electrification is really important to us. I raised it with Heidi Alexander [Transport Secretary] last Thursday when she was here."2026 April 1, Richard Wilcock, “South Yorkshire's sights on a People's Network”, in RAIL, number 1058, page 23
3. (idiomatic, transitive) To cause or allow to remain in an existing position.
   • The new boss would like to keep the present secretary on.
   • The charge against Zagallo then is not so much that he started Ronaldo, but that when it should surely have been clear that the player was in no fit state to take part he kept him on.2010, Brian Glanville, The Story of the World Cup: The Essential Companion to South Africa 2010, London: Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 361
   1. (idiomatic, transitive) To cause or allow to remain in the on or open position.
      • Should I turn off this light or keep it on?
      • Should I shut off this water or keep it on?