Word.ws English Dictionary

keeping the lights on

keeping the lights on is the present participle and gerund of keep the lights on.

Meaning of keep the lights on

Verb

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

  1. To maintain operating expenses for a business.

Questions about keeping the lights on

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

Words near keeping the lights on in the dictionary

  1. keeping the ball rolling
  2. keeping the book
  3. keeping the field
  4. keeping the flag flying
  5. keeping the home fires burning
  6. keeping the lights on
  7. keeping the pace
  8. keeping the peace
  9. keeping the pot boiling
  10. keeping the powder dry
  11. keeping the show on the road

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: keeping the lights on (page history and authors); keep the lights on (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 the lights on.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/keeping_the_lights_on. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.