keep on
Britishverb
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to continue or persist in (doing something)
keep on running
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(tr) to continue to wear
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(tr) to continue to employ
the firm kept on only ten men
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to persist in talking (about)
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to nag (a person)
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Continue, persist, as in They kept on singing all night . [Late 1500s]
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Maintain an existing situation, as in After Mr. Brown died, the housekeeper wondered if she would be kept on . [Mid-1600s]
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Cause to stay on or remain attached, as in Keep your coat on; it's cold in here . [Late 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They said this could represent a “crunch point” ahead of the winter heating season; however, as that’s a few months away, there are still enough supplies for economies to keep on functioning relatively normally.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
“People didn’t expect to receive a response, but hearing about how the book moved them was a motivation for me to keep on working.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
For now, however, less debt and more investments have allowed plenty of Americans to keep on spending.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
The more you keep on claiming that you’ve won, the more it looks like you lost.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2026
None of it is right, but if I keep on trying, I’ll get there.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
