keep
KEEP meaning: a word for support or maintenance, worth 10 Scrabble points, with two anagrams and 17 one-letter neighbours.
Verb 4 meanings
To continue in (a course or mode of action); to not intermit or fall from; to uphold or maintain.
“to keep silence; to keep possession”
To remain faithful to a given promise or word.
“to keep one's word; to keep one's promise”
To hold the status of something.
“I keep a small stock of painkillers for emergencies.”
To hold or be held in a state.
“I keep taking the tablets, but to no avail.”
Noun 3 meanings
The food or money required to keep someone alive and healthy; one's support, maintenance.
“He works as a cobbler's apprentice for his keep.”
The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case.
“to be in good keep”
A cap for holding something, such as a journal box, in place.
Etymology
From Middle English kepen (“to keep, guard, look after, watch”), from Old English cēpan (“to seize, hold, observe”), from Proto-West Germanic *kōpijan, from Proto-Germanic *kōpijaną (“to look, heed, watch, observe”) (compare West Frisian kypje (“to look”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵab-, *ǵāb- (“to look after”) (compare Lithuanian žẽbti (“to eat reluctantly”), Russian забо́та (zabóta, “care, worry”)).
Similar and opposite words
KEEP is a familiar four-letter word with both noun and verb uses. As a noun, it can mean someone's support or maintenance; as a verb, it means to continue or maintain something. Its score comes from a valuable K, while the repeated E gives you two matching tiles to work around when you build or change a play.
KEEP at a glance
- KEEP has four letters and scores 10 points in Scrabble.
- Its tile values are K 5, E 1, E 1, and P 3.
- PEEK and PEKE are the two anagrams formed from the same letters.
- The word has 17 one-letter neighbours, including DEEP, KEEN, and JEEP.
- KEEP rhymes with 12 words, including SLEEP, SHEEP, and SWEEP.
KEEP meaning and Scrabble score
KEEP means support or maintenance when used as a noun: someone's food or money for staying alive and healthy. It can also refer to the condition of being kept, or to a cap that holds a part in place. As a verb, KEEP means to continue a course of action or to uphold something.
The Scrabble total is 10: K contributes 5, the two Es contribute 1 each, and P adds 3. The K supplies half the base score, so placing it on a premium letter square is the key scoring opportunity. KEEP itself is common, but its familiar meaning does not make every related form equally familiar.
What words are one letter away from KEEP?
Seventeen words differ from KEEP by one letter. DEEP, JEEP, BEEP, PEEP, and WEEP keep the E-E-P ending while changing the first tile; KEEN and KEEL instead preserve the opening K-E. These examples show why the repeated Es matter: one changed tile can leave a recognisable pattern intact.
PEEK is the straightforward anagram, while PEKE uses the same four tiles in a less familiar arrangement. KEEP also shares the -eep rhyme with 12 words, from DEEP and SHEEP to UPKEEP. The KEEP meaning is about support or maintaining something, not simply holding a place on a board; for play, check your game's word list once, especially before relying on an unfamiliar neighbour.
Rhymes with keep
All rhymesOne letter away
Questions people ask
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