Meanings
present singular third person keeps time · participle present keeping time · participle past kept time · past kept time
- To measure time.
- To indicate the time correctly (of a timepiece).
How well does this old watch keep time?
Antonyms: lose time
- To make any regular rhythmical movements at the same time with others.
He couldn't carry a tune in a wheelbarrow, but he keeps time like a damn machine.
- To maintain a schedule set out in a timetable. (e.g. of a train)
We never had a chance even to attempt to keep time. An empty stock train from Stewarts Lane was given the road just ahead of us, and from Grosvenor Bridge to Herne Hill we had the signals against us all the way.
1959 April, P. Ransome-Wallis, “The Southern in Trouble on the Kent Coast”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 220Antonyms: lose time
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo indicate the time correctly (of a timepiece).
verbTo maintain a schedule set out in a timetable. (e.g. of a train)
Origin
- Middle Englishtime kepen
- Englishkeep time
From Middle English time kepen, kepen time, etc.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
keep time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keep%20time
“keep time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keep%20time. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “keep time,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keep%20time.
Source: keep time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.