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keep it up

Idioms  

  1. Continue to do or maintain something, as in They were playing loud music, and they kept it up all night long. [Mid-1700s] Also see keep up, def. 4.

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.

Scoring seven goals is important, we have to keep it up.

From Barron's • Oct. 21, 2025

He has good reason to keep it up.

From Slate • Aug. 26, 2025

Really good performance and now needs to keep it up.

From BBC • Jan. 6, 2025

I want to keep it up, which is sometimes the hardest thing to do when you get to a place that is above what you ever dreamed of.

From Salon • Sep. 21, 2024

He tried to look at them, but he couldn’t keep it up and had to look away.

From "The Cricket in Times Square" by George Selden

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.