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.
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
We've agreed that we will rebuild every single time there so we keep on investing in the country.
From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026
“But right now, softball is on a rocket ship. Let’s keep on cooking, let’s keep on flying, let’s show that if you build it, they will come.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
“I’m gonna keep on walking, keep on talking, marching into free-dom land.”
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
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.
