kept

[kept]

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of keep.

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

/ kɛpt /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of keep

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

Other Word Forms

• unkept adjective
• well-kept adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of kept¹

First recorded in 1670–80 kept for def. 2

Example Sentences

Ms Day told police: "I kept telling the woman on the phone she was gone."

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During his time in New Zealand, he kidnapped a penguin and kept it in his bathtub, only to send it back when the president of Otago United warned him he could face deportation if caught.

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Stocks such as Harley haven’t recovered as much as others since April’s market lows, kept down by affordability worries—buying a high-ticket item in a time of dogged inflation and higher interest rates.

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His stepsons were in school, which kept his wife in their offseason home of Indiana.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

She ran in place, holding hands with her stepmother, who kept slipping on the macerated mixture.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal