to keep up
- phrasal verb
- /kip ʌp/
- It's essential to keep up your car's maintenance to avoid expensive repairs later.
- keep up to date
To this day she is keeping up this lie.
- To this day she is keeping up this lie.
- It doesn't feel good to have to always keep your guard up.
- And what you do is a reflection of that family and you're responsible for keeping that name up.
- And I've got to, I keep my spacesuit on and keep it sealed up tight because the vacuum is just pulling.
- But at a certain point, sales were dwindling, and now I'm paying as much to run socials as I am to keep it up.
- If I'm not mistaken, we spend more in servicing our debt than we spend in military, keeping our military up.
- You guys showed up and I'm trying to fucking keep my brain up and let's get Mickey on the line right now.
Examples
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He makes sure to keep up his garden, watering the plants regularly and pulling out weeds.
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Keep it up and we'll all be proud of you.
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All we have to do is just keep up the pressure.
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Now all you have to do is keep it up for the rest of your life.
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- Okay Lisa, keep up the good work.
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Keep up the good work.
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Keep up the good work, soldier.
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We've got to forever keep up the pressure to drive improvements.
Academic text (2010) -
You need to keep up your fluids and your snacks.
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Keep up the good work, Wanko.
Synonyms
To continue doing something or stay in the same state
To keep people and things safe from harm or change
Keep something in good condition by repairing and protecting it
Protect something from harm or waste by using it carefully
To protect people or things from danger
Antonyms
How Maintained
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to continue or maintain the same level' is directly derivable from combining 'keep' (to continue or retain) with 'up' (indicating a maintained or higher position/state). This compositional motion/continuation sense is a common phrasal-verb pattern and has clear cross-linguistic parallels, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer the meaning.
Etymology
Keep up for caring for things may come from the image of using posts to keep a roof up so it does not fall, so it means 'to keep in good condition'.