keep time

verb

To measure time.

“How well does this old watch keep time?”

Opposite

Meanings

verbkeep time (third-person singular simple present keeps time, present participle keeping time, simple past and past participle kept time)

present singular third person keeps time · participle present keeping time · participle past kept time · past kept time

  1. To measure time.
  2. To indicate the time correctly (of a timepiece).

    How well does this old watch keep time?

    Antonyms: lose time

  3. 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.

  4. To control the beat or rhythm of a song played by a music group.

    Isn't one of the conductor's main jobs to keep time?

  5. 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 220

    Antonyms: lose time

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo indicate the time correctly (of a timepiece).

Opposite

verbTo maintain a schedule set out in a timetable. (e.g. of a train)

Opposite
Also see

Origin

  1. Middle Englishtime kepen
  2. Englishkeep time

From Middle English time kepen, kepen time, etc.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

keep time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keep%20time

MLA

“keep time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keep%20time. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

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.