to keep

To keep something is to retain possession or control of it: Keep the change.

The word extends to maintaining states or conditions: keep quiet, keep warm, keep someone waiting.

To keep doing something is to continue: She kept talking.

You keep promises by fulfilling them and keep secrets by not revealing them.

To keep can mean to provide for: He keeps a wife and three children.

Food that keeps stays fresh.

A keep is also the central tower of a castle—where provisions were kept during sieges.