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

Isolated finger gestures, sometimes reaching upward, added telling small details to Mr. Morris’s choreographic momentum, which kept a heady pace with the composer’s insistently pounding, punchy sonorities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

When he went to see his friend, Bush told Banyard the deceased "didn't look good", so the lid of the casket was kept down.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Some parents kept children home; other children insisted that their parents stay home instead.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

Jeff Kent explained why he has kept the 1985 Toyota 4x4 truck that he received from his parents, Alan and Sherry, when he was a teen in Huntington Beach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

He kept singing his ballads until he fell asleep.

From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios