Showing results for "kept"

• past tense form of keep.
• past participle 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

He had long kept a home in Seneca, a short drive from Skins’.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

“But,” Woodward and Costa write, as if paraphrasing Graham’s thoughts, “there was no changing him. You just kept the conversation going.”

From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026

“They kept following me all the way to the car — ‘look at this, look at that.’

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

Behind them, Norway kept a narrow back four.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

Peter and his compass kept us away from all that.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo