Part 496

If the malt be not thoroughly dried, the ale it makes will not keep.

Mortimer.

3. To reside for a time; to lodge; to dwell. [Now disused except locally or colloquially.]

Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps.

Shak.

4. To take care; to be solicitous; to watch. [Obs.]

Keep that the lusts choke not the word of God that is in us.

Tyndale.

5. To be in session; as, school keeps to-day. [Colloq.]

To keep from, to abstain or refrain from. -- To keep in with, to keep on good terms with; as, to keep in with an opponent. -- To keep on, to go forward; to proceed; to continue to advance. -- To keep to, to adhere strictly to; not to neglect or deviate from; as, to keep to old customs; to keep to a rule; to keep to one's word or promise. -- To keep up, to remain unsubdued; also, not to be confined to one's bed.

Keep, n. 1. The act or office of keeping; custody; guard; care; heed; charge. Chaucer.

Pan, thou god of shepherds all, Which of our tender lambkins takest keep.

Spenser.

2. The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case; as, to be in good keep.

3. The means or provisions by which one is kept; maintenance; support; as, the keep of a horse.

Grass equal to the keep of seven cows.

Carlyle.

I performed some services to the college in return for my keep.

T. Hughes.

4. That which keeps or protects; a stronghold; a fortress; a castle; specifically, the strongest and securest part of a castle, often used as a place of residence by the lord of the castle, especially during a siege; the donjon. See Illust. of Castle.

The prison strong, Within whose keep the captive knights were laid.

Dryden.

The lower chambers of those gloomy keeps.

Hallam.

I think . . . the keep, or principal part of a castle, was so called because the lord and his domestic circle kept, abode, or lived there.

M. A. Lower.

5. That which is kept in charge; a charge. [Obs.]

Often he used of his keep A sacrifice to bring.