▪ I. keeping, vbl. n.
(ˈkiːpɪŋ)
[f. keep v. + -ing1.]
The action of the verb keep in various senses.
I. From trans. senses of the vb.
1. Observance of a rule, command, ordinance, institution, practice, promise, etc.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 350 Keping of Goddis mandementis. 1473–4 Act 12 & 13 Edw. IV in Rolls Parlt. VI. 33/2 The kepyng of assise of Brede, Wyne, and Ale. 1573 Reg. St. Andrews Kirk Sess. (1889–90) 389 Be superstitius keping of Ȝwill-day halyday. 1678 Wanley Wond. Lit. World v. iii. §15. 474/1 The controversie about the keeping of Easter. |
2. a. The action, task, or office of looking after, guarding, defending, taking care of, etc.; custody, charge, guardianship.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 20106 Þan name þe apostil..In-til his keping, þat maidan. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 21 God almyȝty takiþ so gret kepyng of smale briddis [etc.]. c 1440 Gesta Rom. i. xxxv. 357 (Addit. MS.) The porter said, ‘have kepyng of thi self’. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lx. 209 We that hath this place in kepinge are frenchemen. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xl. 25 The Book of the Law was in their Keeping. a 1735 Arbuthnot John Bull iii. xxi. Misc. Wks. 1751 II. 92 As upright as a new Chancellor, who has the keeping of the King's Conscience. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xviii. 126 To hand over your impressions to the safe keeping of memory. |
b. Guard, defence. on (at, of, upon) one's keeping, on one's guard. Obs. exc. dial.
| 1388 Wyclif Jer. li. 12 Encreese ȝe kepyng, reise ȝe keperis. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. 52 Amorow þay lefte good kypynge yn the syte. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxxxix. 167 Than she..sette good kepyng ouer them. 1571 Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1633) 139 To be more upon their keeping, to prevent treachery. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. xi. 2 Henceforth, bee at your keeping well. 1668 Ormonde MSS. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 71 Some actions..put your petitioner on his keeping. 1898 Kath. Tynan in Westm. Gaz. 12 Oct. 1/3 He was already, as they say in Ireland, ‘on his keeping’; that is to say, a hunted man. |
† c. A flock (of sheep). Cf. herd. Obs. rare—1.
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 1 A flocke, a keepinge, or a fold of sheepe. |
d. Cricket. Wicket-keeping.
| 1868 in W. A. Bettesworth Walkers of Southgate (1900) 291 Stephenson's ‘keeping’ was also first-rate. 1920 P. F. Warner Cricket Reminisc. 156 His [sc. Blackham's] keeping to Mr. Spofforth with the 1878 Australian XI. was a revelation. |
3. The taking care of a thing or person; the giving of attention so as to maintain in good order or condition; the state or condition in which a thing is kept.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 14887 Giue Englische men euen kepynge, Mete & drynke, & oþer þynge. 1468 Chron. Eng. in Hearne R. Glouc. (1724) 482 His hondes..shewethe sumwhat vnwyt and necclygence, for he vtterliche leueth the kepyng of hem. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §112 Cratches is a soraunce that wyll cause a horse to halte, and commeth of yll kepynge. 1523 Churchw. Acc. St. Giles, Reading 19 Paid for kepyng of the clok iijs iij{supd}. 1603 Owen Pembrokeshire (1891) 280 Farre exceeding anye of the companie for stature, and good keapinge. 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 68 This Keeping consists in mowing the Grass often. 1880 Ann. Rep. R. Hort. Soc. 5 The Garden..in the highest state of keeping which the means of the Society allowed. |
4. The maintaining of a state or condition.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (Baptist) 14 Angele als callit wes he, fore kepyng of verginite. c 1430 Life St. Kath. (1884) 35 To lese þe name and croune of ȝoure profession by kepynge of silence. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI 170 Exhort them to y⊇..kepyng of good order within the citie. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. v. 261 Beneuolent keiping of kyndnes, cumpanie, and freindschip. |
5. a. Maintenance, sustenance with food; food, fodder; = keep n. 6 c.
| 1644 Boston Rec. (1877) II. 80 Charity White is allowed 26s. for thirteene weekes keeping of John Berry. 1671 Milton Samson 1260 My labours, The work of many hands, which earns my keeping. 1708 Yorksh. Racers 7 His stable-room and keeping are unpaid. 1876 Holland Sev. Oaks xii. 162 Mike thought he could hire a horse for his keeping and a sled for a small sum. |
b. The maintaining of a mistress or lover; the fact or condition of being so maintained.
| 1675 Wycherley Country-Wife i. Wks. (Rtldg.) 73/2 But prithee..Is not keeping better than marriage? 1678 Dryden Limberham Pref., 'Twas intended for an honest Satyr against our crying Sin of Keeping. 1727 Gay Begg. Op. ii. iv, Pray Madam were you ever in keeping? 1768 H. Walpole Hist. Doubts 49 note, On the death of the king she [Jane Shore] had been taken into keeping by lord Hastings. 1853 Mrs. Gaskell Ruth III. i. 29 She beguiled a young gentleman, who took her into keeping. 1932 J. M. S. Tompkins Pop. Novel in England 1770–1800 v. 193 Women of the town flaunt at the races and are taken into keeping. 1964 Listener 12 Mar. 444/3 There is no stigma on ‘keeping’ or ‘living’, nor on illegitimacy. |
† 6. Confinement, imprisonment; prison. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Luke xxi. 12 Thei schulen sette hir hondis on ȝou..bitakinge in to synagogis and kepingis [gloss ether prisouns]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13953 Telamoc..come out of kepyng to his kid fadur. 1513 More in Grafton Chron. II. 772 Her kepyng of the king his brother in that place. |
7. The action or fact of retaining as one's own; retention; pl. things kept or retained.
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 5594 In getyng he hath such woo, And in the kepyng drede also. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI 152 b, Of the gettyng of this mannes goodes..I wil not speake: but the kepinge of them [etc.]. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 185 They concluded she was good prize and worth the keeping. 1857 W. Smith Thorndale 573 If there is to be any keeping, there must be some limit put on the taking. |
8. Reservation for future use; preservation.
| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 434 A piece of bread..so drye..with longe kepinge. 1718 Freethinker No. 27 ¶1 True Wit and Good Sense will bear keeping. 1730 Swift Betty the Grizette, A tawny speckled pippin Shrivel'd with a winter's keeping. 1870 L'Estrange Miss Mitford I. vi. 181 Are not poems, like port wine, the better for keeping? 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 696 Fruits which spoil with keeping. |
9. a. In Painting. orig. The maintenance of the proper relation between the representations of nearer and more distant objects in a picture; hence, in more general sense, ‘the proper subserviency of tone and colour in every part of a picture, so that the general effect is harmonious to the eye’ (Fairholt); the maintenance of harmony of composition.
| 1715 J. Richardson The. Painting 224 The Composition is not to be justifyed..the Groups are too Regularly placed, and without any Keeping in the Whole, that is, they appear too near of an Equal Strength. 1762 Goldsm. Cit. W. lv, [Parodying art slang] ‘What do you think, sir, of that head in the corner, done in the manner of Grisoni? There's the true keeping in it. 1768 W. Gilpin Upon Prints 20 Keeping then proportions a proper degree of strength to the near and distant parts, in respect to each other. 1780 Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 1 May, There is contour, and keeping, and grace, and expression, and all the varieties of artificial excellence. 1792 Resid. France (1797) I. 87 Some mixture of splendour and clumsiness, and a want of what the painters call keeping. 1809 M. Edgeworth Absentee x, In Lady Clonbrony's mind, as in some bad paintings, there was no keeping; all objects, great and small, were upon the same level. 1859 Gullick & Timbs Paint. 172 The keeping and repose in this cartoon are inimitable. |
b. generally. Agreement, congruity, harmony.
| 1819 Hazlitt Eng. Com. Writers vi. (1869) 153 There is the exquisite keeping in the character of Blifil, and the want of it in that of Tom Jones. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 406 For wit, fancy, invention, and keeping, it [the Rape of the Lock] has never been surpassed. |
c. Phr. in or out of keeping (with): in or out of harmony or agreement (with).
| c 1790 J. Imison Sch. Art II. 59 In what respect it is out of keeping; that is, what parts are too light, and what too dark. 1806 F. Horner Let. in Life vii. (1849) 175 They were so in keeping with the whole that the prevailing tone was..never interrupted. 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. xlvii, To use an artist phrase, nothing could be more in keeping with the day than the reception Miss S. met with. 1830 Blackw. Mag. XXVII. 310 It is in ‘fine keeping’, as the phrase is. 1841 Lever C. O'Malley iv. 24 His own costume of black coat, leathers and tops, was in perfect keeping. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iii. v. 14 Such an utterance of Truth would..be out of keeping with our present condition in the flesh. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 26 Indications..in thorough keeping with the view we have taken. |
II. From intr. senses of the vb.
10. Staying or remaining in a place or in a certain condition; remaining sound.
| 1742 Lond. & Country Brew. i. (ed. 4) 22 The Handful of Salt..hinders their Ale from keeping. 1776 J. Hunter Let. to Jenner 22 Jan., Wks. 1835 I. 59 Their keeping into one substance would make me inclinable to believe that it is a new substance. 1785 S. Fielding Ophelia I. xxv, I took advantage of my disorder to excuse my keeping at home. |
III. 11. With adverbs, as keeping back, keeping down, keeping in, keeping out, keeping up: see keep v. IV.
| 1552 Huloet, Kepynge backe or a part, reseruatio, retentio. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 48 Sharpe kepinge in, and bridleinge of youth. 1667 Pepys Diary 26 Apr., He says that the king's keeping in still with my Lady Castlemaine do show it. 1814 Wellington 15 May in Gurw. Desp. (1838) XII. 12 An allowance for the purchase and keeping up of a mule in the public service. 1835 Macaulay Ess., Mackintosh's Hist. Rev. (1887) 366 By resistance they meant the keeping out of James the Third. 1884 Nonconf. & Indep. 25 Sept. 927/3 The system of ‘keeping in’ [at school] is barbarous. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 371 The keeping down of uræmic accumulation. |
IV. 12. attrib. and Comb., as keeping-beer, keeping ewe-lamb, keeping-ground, keeping-sheep, etc.
| 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece i. vi. 284 The Season for brewing Keeping-beer. 1773 Hist. Brit. Dom. N. Amer. ii. ii. §12. 217 When whales are much disturbed, they quit their keeping-ground. 1886 Scott Sheep-Farming 115 A new system of not weaning the keeping ewe lambs at all. |
▪ II. ˈkeeping, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
That keeps, in various senses (see the verb). Esp. of fruit (cf. keep v. 41).
| c 1430 A B C of Aristotle in Babees Bk. 12 [Be not] to kinde, ne to kepynge, & be waar of knaue tacchis. 1677 A. Behn Rover ii. ii, All this frights me not: 'tis still much better than a keeping husband. 1703 Rowe Fair Penit. i. i. 236 Some keeping Cardinal shall doat upon thee. 1801 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Tears & Smiles Wks. 1812 V. 30 Daughters and dead fish, we find Were never keeping wares. 1816 Jane Austen Emma II. ix. 187 There never was such a keeping apple any where as one of his trees. 1842 Hood Let. 12 Oct. in F. F. Broderip Memorials Thomas Hood (1860) II. iv. 140 Our gardener said they [sc. pears] were a keeping sort, and would be good at Christmas. 1963 Times 11 Feb. 13/5 The majority of pupils ate sandwiches and keeping-apples. |