How to use keep in a sentence
40 example sentences · verb, noun
Keep means to continue in (a course or mode of action); to not intermit or fall from; to uphold or maintain. Example: “I keep a small stock of painkillers for emergencies.”
Examples of keep by meaning
verbTo continue in (a course or mode of action); to not intermit or fall from; to uphold or maintain.
- to keep silence; to keep possession
verbTo remain faithful to a given promise or word.
- to keep one's word; to keep one's promise
verbTo maintain possession of.
- I keep a small stock of painkillers for emergencies.
- I only meant to lend him the shirt at first, but it looked better on him than me, so I told him to keep it.
verbTo maintain the condition of; to preserve in a certain state.
- I keep my specimens under glass to protect them.
- The abundance of squirrels kept the dogs running for hours.
- She mixed furniture with the same fatal profligacy as she mixed drinks, and this outrageous contact between things which were intended by Nature to be kept poles apart gave her an inexpressible thrill.1935, George Goodchild, chapter 1, in Death on the Centre Court
verbTo record transactions, accounts, or events in.
- I used to keep a diary.
verbTo remain in; to be confined to.
- Challenger is in the habit of keeping her room of a morning--it suddenly entered my head that it would be entertaining and instructive to see whether I could find any limits to this woman's inperturbability."1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC
verbTo restrain.
- I keep my pet gerbil away from my brother.
- Don't let me keep you; I know you have things to be doing.
verbTo watch over, look after, guard, protect.
- May the Lord keep you from harm.
More sentences with keep
- The abbess was always after the nuns to keep the convent immaculately clean.From the entry abbess
- She believes it is important to keep abreast of new scientific developments.From the entry abreast
- The fruit trees in the yard keep me in apples and pears for most of the year.From the entry in
- I need to keep in with the neighbours in case I ever need a favour from them.From the entry in
- Good ranchers must continually keep watch over the health of their stock.From the entry stock
- They set accomplishable goals to keep the team motivated and focused.From the entry accomplishable
- His sensitive radar for hidden alliances keeps him out of trouble.From the entry radar
- The man in the next bunk kept me awake all night with his snoring.From the entry next
- The dancer kept pace with the shifting tempo of the music.From the entry tempo
- Keep that list in front of you, or memorize it cold.From the entry cold
- This new pickup is so hot we can't keep it in stock!From the entry hot
- He always keeps a vase full of flowers in his office.From the entry flower
- In my latest job, I've learnt to keep my mouth shut more than in the last one.From the entry learn
- The kerosene lasted all winter, so the furnace kept us always warm.From the entry kerosene
- Mulch your vegetable garden to retain moisture and keep weeds down.From the entry mulch
- I keep a glass of water next to my bed when I sleep.From the entry bed
- Garments made of certain new materials breathe well and keep the skin relatively dry during exercise.From the entry breathe
- The way you keep eating raw meat, you're just begging to get tapeworms.From the entry beg
- Johnny lost a tooth, but kept it for the tooth fairy.From the entry lose
- The friendship did not survive the row: they kept each other at a distance.From the entry distance
- We have to keep our unit costs down if we want to make a profit.From the entry unit
- We need to nail down this carpet so people don't keep tripping over it.From the entry down
- The stores are kept well stocked against a time of need.From the entry against
- Humankind relies on technology to keep average standard of living higher than it would otherwise be.From the entry technology
- One and, two and, keep moving; feel the burn in your thighs!From the entry burn
- She installed a sturdy catch to keep her cabinets closed tight.From the entry catch
- One student kept trying to cut in front of the line.From the entry cut
- What is the done thing these days? I can't keep up!From the entry done
Meaning of keep
- verb To continue in (a course or mode of action); to not intermit or fall from; to uphold or maintain.
- verb To remain faithful to a given promise or word.
- verb To maintain possession of.
Questions about keep in a sentence
- How do you use keep in a sentence?
- Keep is used as a verb and noun. For example: “I keep a small stock of painkillers for emergencies.”
- What is a short sentence with keep?
- “I used to keep a diary.”
- What does keep mean?
- Keep means to continue in (a course or mode of action); to not intermit or fall from; to uphold or maintain.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: keep (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use keep in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/keep. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.