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

And the eyeballs on the shows have been evident, with Costa and Wright saying the chat stream during the latest episode at its peak tallied so many responses within the chat that Costa couldn’t keep up. — Larry Holder, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026

Safety fails if restraint means losing the race Suppose American frontier labs agree to slow certain forms of development because safety systems cannot keep up. — Shlomit Wagman, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026

Universities are borrowing and spending tens of millions just to keep up, while nonrevenue, women’s and Olympic sports are cut to feed football and men’s basketball. — Lamell J. McMorris, Sportico.com, 14 Sep. 2026

Getty Images Auto loans are fixed once disbursed, but a Fed rate hike could push up rates on new loans at a time when car buyers are already struggling to keep up with large monthly loan payments. — Jessica Dickler, CNBC, 14 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)