Word.ws English Dictionary

underkeeping

underkeeping is the present participle and gerund of underkeep.

Meaning of underkeep

Verb

underkeep (third-person singular simple present underkeeps, present participle underkeeping, simple past and past participle underkept)

  1. (transitive) To keep under or in subjection; subdue; suppress.
    • Like as a fire, the which in hollow caue / Hath long bene vnderkept, and downe supprest, / With murmurous disdaine doth inly raue […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
  2. (transitive) To keep or maintain inadequately or below standard.
    • Compared to Colva and Benaulim, Palolem 's accommodations are overpriced and underkept — expect to pay Rs200 in season for the privilege of crashing in a charmless double and using a common bathroom outside.2004, Let's go: India & Nepal, 2004 - Page 191, Let's Go, Inc

See all 6 meanings of underkeep

Questions about underkeeping

What is underkeeping the present participle and gerund of?
Underkeeping is the present participle and gerund of underkeep.

Words near underkeeping in the dictionary

  1. underjungles
  2. underkecks
  3. underkeep
  4. underkeeper
  5. underkeepers
  6. underkeeping
  7. underkeeps
  8. underkept
  9. underkill
  10. underkilled
  11. underkilling

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: underkeeping (page history and authors); underkeep (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: “underkeeping.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/underkeeping. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.