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

The downpour quickly overwhelmed the city’s sewer system, and even the regional network of deep tunnels and reservoirs couldn’t keep up. —Daniel C. Vock, Chicago Tribune, 14 June 2026

Whether the chaperone can keep up is the question the next year will answer. —Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 14 June 2026

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? —Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 14 June 2026

Along with always keeping up to date with the latest hair and beauty trends, makeup products, and fragrances, Shirley was an early advocate of the mind-body-health-beauty approach to living. —William Norwich, Vogue, 12 June 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)