Search the Dictionary

To come between; to keep apart by occupying the space between; to lie between; as, the Mediterranean Sea separates Europe and Africa.

One to whom the keeping of sequestered property is committed.

A harem; a place for keeping wives or concubines; sometimes, loosely, a place of licentious pleasure; a house of debauchery.

To keep distinct or apart; to except; to exempt. I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there. Ex. viii. 22.

To shelter or screen by intercepting the rays of light; to keep off illumination from. Milton. I went to crop the sylvan scenes, And shade our altars with their leafy greens. Dryden.

hither side of; as, on the shady side of fifty; that is, more than fifty. [Colloq.] -- To keep shady, to stay in concealment; also, to be reticent. [Slang]

e, or scabbard; to inclose or cover with, or as with, a sheath or case. The leopard . . . keeps the claws of his fore feet turned up from the ground, and sheathed in the skin of his toes. Grew. 'T is in my breast she sheathes her dagger now. Dryden.

A keeper or feeder of sheep; also, an owner of sheep. 2 Kings iii. 4.

To ward off; to keep off or out. They brought with them their usual weeds, fit to shield the cold to which they had been inured. Spenser.

nage in an exigency. "I shall make shift to go without him." Shak. [They] made a shift to keep their own in Ireland. Milton.

hesitating manner. I am somewhat dainty in making a resolution, because when I make it, I keep it; I don't stand shill-I-shall-I then; if I say 't, I'll do 't. Congreve.

er's mode of tying a knot, and did it herself in a shipshape orthodox manner. De Quincey. Keep everything shipshape, for I must go Tennyson.

A book in which a tradesman keeps his accounts. Locke.

s of a shrew; having a scolding disposition; froward; peevish. My wife is shrewish when I keep not hours. Shak. -- Shrew"ish*ly, adv. -- Shrew"ish*ness, n.

To avoid; to keep clear of; to get out of the way of; to escape from; to eschew; as, to shun rocks, shoals, vice. I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Acts xx. 26,27. Scarcity and want shall shun you. Shak.

A piece of dining-room furniture having compartments and shelves for keeping or displaying articles of table service. At a stately sideboard, by the wine, That fragrant smell diffused. Milton.

Secrecy; as, these things were transacted in silence. The administration itself keeps a profound silence. D. Webster.

Keeping at rest; inactive; calm; undisturbed; as, the wind is silent. Parnell. Sir W. Raleigh.

One appointed to keep silence and order in court; also, one sworn not to divulge secre

le. [Obs.] A fourth man, in a sillyhabit. Shak. All that did their silly thoughts so busy keep. Milton.