keep up

verb

kept up; keeping up; keeps up

transitive verb

: to persist or persevere in

kept up the good work

also : maintain, sustain

keep standards up

intransitive verb

1

: to keep adequately informed or up-to-date

keep up on international affairs

2

: to continue without interruption

rain kept up all night

3

: to maintain contact or relations with someone

keep up with old friends

Synonyms of keep up

• survive
• last
• prevail

Examples of keep up in a Sentence

let's hope that old air conditioner keeps up through this heat wave

kept the house up while the owners were gone

Recent Examples on the Web

Those decisions started arriving faster than her judgment could keep up. — Carrie-Ann Barrow, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026

With the state of the economy, rising prices and cuts to public meal assistance, even food pantries are struggling to keep up with the level of need, Anderson said. — Kansas City Star, 28 Sep. 2026

Tookey has raised his prices but not enough to keep up with ballooning expenses. — Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 28 Sep. 2026

Semiconductor makers, hardware companies and other AI infrastructure beneficiaries have benefited from enormous capital spending, while companies outside the AI trade have struggled to keep up. — Deena Zaidi,nick Wells, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for keep up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup

Kids Definition

keep up

verb

1

: maintain sense 1

keep standards up

2

: to stay well informed about something

keep up on the news

3

: to continue without interruption

rain kept up all night

4

: to stay even with others (as in a race)