for keeps
Yours to stay
For keeps means permanently, with no intention of returning or changing: She's back for keeps this time.
The phrase comes from children's games where players either return marbles after the game or play for keeps—winner takes all.
By extension, to play for keeps is to compete seriously, with real stakes and lasting consequences.
- foreverFor all time
- till death do us partMatrimonial permanence oath
- eternalLasting without end
- winner-takes-allVictory claims everything
- enduringPersisting through time
hold · finality · prize · keep · fixed · marbles · permanent · carved in stone · high stakes · all in · conclusive · signed and sealed · no take backs · for better or worse · all-or-nothing · championship · wholeheartedness · dedication
- eternityeternity, everlasting, eternal, timeless, perpetuity
for keepstemporarily
For a limited time
for now · for the time being · on loan · for a while · provisionally
for keepsfor fun
Without practical motive
just for fun · casually · just for kicks · playfully · in jest