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

• 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

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? —Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 19 Oct. 2025

Kurt's key takeaways AI is evolving faster than most security systems can keep up with. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2025

To keep up with his life in Vietnam, Ryan’s monthly income comes from several sources and totals roughly $4,000, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. —Celia Fernandez mickey Todiwala, CNBC, 18 Oct. 2025

Market veteran Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, said recently that gold could skyrocket to $10,000 by per ounce the end of the decade if its current pace keeps up. —Jason Ma, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2025

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)