(n)support, keep, livelihood, living, bread and butter, sustenancethe financial means whereby one lives“each child was expected to pay for their keep”, “he applied to the state for support”, “he could no longer earn his own livelihood”
(v)keep, maintain, holdcause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity“hold in place”, “She always held herself as a lady”, “The students keep me on my toes”
(v)continue, go on, proceed, go along, keepcontinue a certain state, condition, or activity“Keep on working!”, “We continued to work into the night”, “Keep smiling”, “We went on working until well past midnight”
(v)prevent, keepstop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state“We must prevent the cancer from spreading”, “His snoring kept me from falling asleep”, “Keep the child from eating the marbles”
(v)observe, keepconform one's action or practice to“keep appointments”, “she never keeps her promises”, “We kept to the original conditions of the contract”
(v)observe, keep, maintainstick to correctly or closely“The pianist kept time with the metronome”, “keep count”, “I cannot keep track of all my employees”
(v)retain, continue, keep, keep onallow to remain in a place or position or maintain a property or feature“We cannot continue several servants any longer”, “She retains a lawyer”, “The family's fortune waned and they could not keep their household staff”, “Our grant has run out and we cannot keep you on”, “We kept the work going as long as we could”, “She retained her composure”, “this garment retains its shape even after many washings”
(v)sustain, keep, maintainsupply with necessities and support“She alone sustained her family”, “The money will sustain our good cause”, “There's little to earn and many to keep”
(v)keep open, hold open, keep, saveretain rights to“keep my job for me while I give birth”, “keep my seat, please”, “keep open the possibility of a merger”
(v)keephave as a supply“I always keep batteries in the freezer”, “keep food for a week in the pantry”, “She keeps a sixpack and a week's worth of supplies in the refrigerator”
(v)restrain, keep, keep back, hold backprevent the action or expression of“hold back your anger”, “keep your cool”, “she struggled to restrain her impatience at the delays”