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

Iran kept up its wave of attacks launched at Israel that have sent millions of people to shelters, with sirens sounding across a wide swath of the north, from Haifa to the Galilee to the border with Lebanon. —Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 20 Mar. 2026

Following the fire, the crew kept up combat sorties until the withdrawal decision. —Munis Raza, Interesting Engineering, 19 Mar. 2026

That 3% growth is no longer keeping up with reality, according to Fulton and others who reviewed the inter-governmental agreements, or IGAs. —Brian Maass, CBS News, 18 Mar. 2026

DeSimone says her administration can no longer keep up with the park’s aging infrastructure. —Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald, 18 Mar. 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)