Verb

To keep away from; to keep clear of; to endeavor not to meet; to shun; to abstain from.

:I try to avoid the company of gamblers.

*1526 , Bible , tr. William Tyndale, Matthew 4:

*:The devyllsayde unto hym: all these will I geve the, iff thou wilt faull doune and worship me. Then sayde Jesus unto hym. Avoyde Satan.

*Milton

*:What need a man forestall his date of grief, / And run to meet what he would most avoid ?

*Macaulay

*:He carefully avoided every act which could goad them into open hostility.

*{{quote-news, year=2012, date=June 19, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport

, title= England 1-0 Ukraine , passage=England could have met world and European champions Spain but that eventuality was avoided by Sweden's 2-0 win against France, and Rooney's first goal in a major tournament since scoring twice in the 4-2 victory over Croatia in Lisbon at Euro 2004.}}

(obsolete) To make empty; to clear.

:(Wyclif)

To make void, to annul; to refute (especially a contract).

*Spenser

*:How can these grants of the king's be avoided ?

(legal) To defeat or evade; to invalidate. Thus, in a replication, the plaintiff may deny the defendant's plea, or confess it, and avoid it by stating new matter.

:(Blackstone)

(obsolete) To emit or throw out; to void; as, to avoid excretions.

:(Sir Thomas Browne)

(obsolete) To leave, evacuate; to leave as empty, to withdraw or come away from.

*:

*:Anone they encountred to gyders / and he with the reed shelde smote hym soo hard that he bare hym ouer to the erthe / There with anone came another Knyght of the castel / and he was smyten so sore that he auoyded his fadel

*Francis Bacon

*:Six of us only stayed, and the rest avoided the room.

(obsolete) To get rid of.

:(Shakespeare)

(obsolete) To retire; to withdraw, depart, go away.

(obsolete) To become void or vacant.

Verb

To continue in (a course or mode of action); not to intermit or fall from; to maintain.

:

*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

*:Both day and night did we keep company.

*(Tobias Smollett) (1721–1771)

*:within the portal as I kept my watch

To hold the status of something.

#To maintain possession of.

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#To maintain the condition of.

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#*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=10 , passage=Mr. Cooke had had a sloop?yacht built at Far Harbor, the completion of which had been delayed, and which was but just delivered.

#*{{quote-book, year=1935, author= George Goodchild

, title=Death on the Centre Court, chapter=1 , passage=She mixed furniture with the same fatal profligacy as she mixed drinks, and this outrageous contact between things which were intended by Nature to be kept poles apart gave her an inexpressible thrill.}}

#(lb) To record transactions, accounts, or events in.

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#(lb) To enter (accounts, records, etc.) in a book.

#(label) To remain in, to be confined to.

#*1605 , (William Shakespeare), (King Lear) , III.ii,

#*:The wrathful skies / Gallow the very wanderers of the dark / And make them keep their caves.

#To restrain.

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# To watch over, look after, guard, protect.

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#*1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.viii:

#*:cursse on thy cruell hond, / That twise hath sped; yet shall it not thee keepe / From the third brunt of this my fatall brond.

#To supply with necessities and financially support a person.

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#(lb) To raise; to care for.

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#*1914 , Robert Joos, Success with Hens , Forbes & company, p.217:

#*:Of course boys are boys and need watching, but there is little watching necessary when they keep chickens.

#*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 14, author=Steven Morris, work=(The Guardian), title= Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave

, passage=Jailing her on Wednesday, magistrate Liz Clyne told Robins: "You have shown little remorse either for the death of the kitten or the trauma to your former friend Sarah Knutton." She was also banned from keeping animals for 10 years.}}

#To maintain (an establishment or institution); to conduct; to manage.

#*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

#*:like a pedant that keeps a school

#*Sir (c.1564-1627)

#*:They were honourably brought to London, where every one of them kept house by himself.

#*

#*:At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors.In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.

#To have habitually in stock for sale.

To hold or be held in a state.

#(lb) To reside for a time; to lodge; to dwell.

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#*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

#*:Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps .

#To continue.

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#*, chapter=22

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part.

#*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)

, volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic

#To remain edible or otherwise usable.

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#*1707 , John Mortimer], ''[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=8xUAAAAAQAAJ&redir_esc=y The Whole Art of Husbandry

#*:If the malt be not thoroughly dried, the ale it makes will not keep .

#(lb) To remain in a state.

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(lb) To wait for, keep watch for.

*:

*:And thenne whan the damoysel knewe certaynly that he was not syre launcelot / thenne she took her leue and departed from hym / And thenne syre Trystram rode pryuely vnto the posterne where kepte hym la beale Isoud / and there she made hym good chere and thanked god of his good spede

To act as wicket-keeper.

:

To take care; to be solicitous; to watch.

*(William Tyndale) (1494-1536)

*:Keep that the lusts choke not the word of God that is in us.

To be in session; to take place.

:

(lb) To observe; to adhere to; to fulfill; not to swerve from or violate.

*Bible, iv. 7

*:I have kept the faith.

*(John Milton) (1608-1674)

*:Him whom to love is to obey, and keep / His great command.

To confine oneself to; not to quit; to remain in.

:

To visit (a place) often; to frequent.

* (1579-1625)

*:'Tis hallowed ground; / Fairies, and fawns, and satyrs do it keep .