keep at
Britishverb
-
(intr) to persevere with or persist in
-
(tr) to constrain (a person) to continue doing (a task)
-
Persevere or persist at doing something. For example, If you keep at your math, you'll soon master it . It is also put as keep at it , as in He kept at it all day and finally finished the report . [Early 1800s]
-
keep at someone . Nag, harass, or annoy someone, as in You have to keep at Carl if you want him to do the work , or He keeps at Millie all the time . Also see keep after .
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.
“We have all these song ideas from all these years, and we just keep at it. Knowing we’ve got another record to do keeps us going.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026
Under 25-year-old rules, traders who borrowed money from their broker to make four or more day trades within five business days had to keep at least $25,000 in their margin accounts.
From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026
In effect: Set it and keep at it.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 21, 2026
Ukraine has learned to safeguard this trade by using naval drones to keep at bay Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 1, 2026
“That’s all I can do. I’ll keep at it and hope it gets better.”
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
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.
