Showing results for "kept"

• past participle of keep.
• past tense form of keep.

kept

American  

[kept] / kɛpt /

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of keep.

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adjective

1. having the expression of principles, ideas, etc., controlled, dominated, or determined by one whose money provides support.

   a kept press;

   a kept writer.

kept British  

/ kɛpt /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of keep

2. pejorative a woman maintained by a man as his mistress

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Other Word Forms

• unkept
  adjective
• well-kept
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of kept

First recorded in 1670–80 kept for def. 2

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kept

Acme forever, but, just like Wile E. Coyote himself, the film kept bouncing back.

From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2026

At weekends, he would visit his family, his wife and two children kept safe in Belgrade.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

Literacy was a critical focus for Parton, who has said she set up the Imagination Library because of her own father's inability to read, which "probably kept him from seeing all his dreams come true."

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

She also made sure that new editions kept pace with culinary trends.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

He’d kept his feelings to himself until the final moment.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith