Word.ws English Dictionary

keeping score

keeping score is the present participle and gerund of keep score.

Meaning of keep score

Verb

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

  1. To keep track of the score in a game.
  2. (broadly, figuratively) To keep track of figures, numbers, or other details in various other contexts.
    • Too many of us are attempting to "prove" our manhood by the tired heterosexual method of "keeping score".1977 April 30, Steven Blevins, “Sexism in the Bars, Baths, and Bushes”, in Gay Community News, page 5
    1. (broadly, figuratively) To monitor and assess the actions and conduct of others, including potential infringements, conflicting objectives, or notable interactions, across interpersonal, political, and broader social domains, encompassing both offline and digital environments.
      • What I've learned I'm not really sure / Oh so many times / I've stopped keeping score / Traces and faces and people I meet / Seem to be a circle that just repeats1974, Ashford & Simpson, “Over To Where You Are”, in I Wanna Be Selfish

Questions about keeping score

What is keeping score the present participle and gerund of?
Keeping score is the present participle and gerund of keep score.

Words near keeping score in the dictionary

  1. keeping quiet
  2. keeping rank
  3. keeping room
  4. keeping rooms
  5. keeping schtum
  6. keeping score
  7. keeping shtum
  8. keeping sight of
  9. keeping someone company
  10. keeping someone guessing
  11. keeping someone honest

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: keeping score (page history and authors); keep score (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “keeping score.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/keeping_score. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.