keep up


verb(adverb)
  1. (tr) to maintain (prices, one's morale) at the present level

  2. (intr) to maintain a pace or rate set by another

  1. (intr often foll by with) to remain informed: to keep up with technological developments

  2. (tr) to maintain in good condition

  3. (tr) to hinder (a person) from going to bed at night: the excitement kept the children up well past their bedtime

  4. keep it up to continue a good performance

  5. keep one's chin up to keep cheerful under difficult circumstances

  6. keep one's end up to maintain one's stance or position against opposition or misfortune

  7. keep up with to remain in contact with, esp by letter

  8. keep up with the Joneses informal to compete with one's neighbours in material possessions, etc

Words Nearby keep up

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use keep up in a sentence

  • There cannot be many persons in the world who keep up with the whole range of musical literature as he does.

  • By bringing men over from the Asiatic side and from Adrianople the Turks seem to be able to keep up their strength.

  • It was directed to Mr. Carr, and said as plainly as look could say, "Don't undeceive her; keep up the delusion."

    Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry Wood
  • The engine did more work while the steam lasted, but the boiler could not keep up the demand.

  • Here was one cause of his disinclination to meet his wife—having to keep up the farce of Dr. Ashton's action.

    Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry Wood

Other Idioms and Phrases with keep up

keep up

Also, keep up with. Proceed at the same pace, continue alongside another, as in We try to keep up with the times. [First half of 1600s] This usage, also put as keep pace, appears in the phrase keeping up with the Joneses, which was coined in 1913 by cartoonist Arthur R. Momand for the title of a series in the New York Globe. It means “trying to match the lifestyle of one's more affluent neighbors or acquaintances.” For example, Their buying a new van is just another attempt to keep up with the Joneses.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.