keeping

noun

keep·​ing ˈkē-piŋ 

1

: conformity

in keeping with good taste

out of keeping with the decor

2

: the act of one that keeps: such as

a

: custody, maintenance

b

: observance

c

: a reserving or preserving for future use

3

a

: the means by which something is kept : support, provision

b

: the state of being kept or the condition in which something is kept

the house is in good keeping

Synonyms of keeping

• custody
• care

Examples of keeping in a Sentence

put the house keys into a neighbor's secure keeping while they were on vacation

my aunt has all of our family's old photographs in her keeping

Recent Examples on the Web

Most enterprise data pipelines were designed for batch reporting and structured record-keeping, not for the real-time, context-rich consumption that probabilistic AI models require to produce trustworthy outputs. — Rohit Kedia, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026

Luka Garza lost most of his minutes to Nikola Vučević, who has since departed in free agency (and who the Celtics didn’t express much interest in keeping). — Jay King, New York Times, 1 July 2026

Since record-keeping began in 1875, the available records show Pittsburgh has only hit 100 degrees or greater 21 times. — Trey Fulbright, CBS News, 1 July 2026

Prices have since eased, but household chicken-keeping has not retreated with them. — Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 30 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing keeping

• how are you keeping
• in keeping with
• in someone's keeping
• keeping a watching brief
• keeping company with the likes of
• keeping room
• keeping the peace
• out of keeping with
• record-keeping
• standing/keeping guard
• what is keeping someone

Rhymes for keeping

• beeping
• creeping
• heaping
• leaping
• peeping
• reaping
• seeping
• sleeping
• steeping
• sweeping
• weeping
• beekeeping

Kids Definition

keeping

noun

keep·​ing

ˈkē-piŋ

1

: watchful attention : care

2

: a proper or fitting relationship : harmony

in keeping with good taste