Store vs. Keep — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Urooj Arif — Updated on March 13, 2024
Store refers to placing items in a designated location for future use, emphasizing organization, while keep implies retaining possession or maintaining condition.
Difference Between Store and Keep
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Store involves placing or keeping items in a specific place, usually for organizational purposes, safety, or future use, often implying a systematic approach to handling goods, information, or resources. Keep, on the other hand, signifies retaining possession of something or maintaining its condition over time, with a broader application that encompasses not just physical items but also intangible concepts like memories or secrets. While storing typically suggests a temporary suspension of use until needed, keeping encompasses a wider range of intentions and durations, from short-term holding to lifelong preservation.
The act of storing often occurs in spaces designed for this purpose, such as warehouses, closets, or digital databases, where items are kept safe and in good condition until required. Conversely, keeping can occur anywhere, from physical locations to abstract spaces like one's mind, and focuses more on the act of possession or maintenance rather than the method or location of storage.
Storing is a critical function in logistics and supply chain management, emphasizing the efficiency and accessibility of goods, whereas keeping highlights a personal or institutional commitment to retain, preserve, or maintain something, whether for practical, emotional, or legal reasons.
In terms of management, strategies for storing items often involve inventory control, organization, and protection from damage, focusing on the practical aspects of accessibility and preservation. Keeping, however, may involve emotional, ethical, or legal dimensions, reflecting a broader spectrum of reasons behind the decision to hold onto something.
While both actions are essential in various contexts, the choice between store and keep can reflect the nature of the items involved, the intent behind their retention, and the duration for which they are to be held. Storing leans towards a more organized, purpose-driven approach to handling items, whereas keeping can be driven by a mixture of practical, sentimental, or legal considerations.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Placing items in a location for future use.
Retaining possession or maintaining condition.
Purpose
Organization, safety, future access.
Possession, preservation, maintenance.
Duration
Typically temporary until needed.
Can be short-term to lifelong.
Location
Designated storage spaces.
Anywhere, from physical to abstract.
Emphasis
Efficiency, accessibility.
Commitment, preservation.
Compare with Definitions
Store
Preserving food for future use.
Groceries are stored in refrigerators to prolong freshness.
Keep
Maintaining confidentiality.
Friends keep each other's secrets.
Store
Holding products for sale.
Retail stores store merchandise in stockrooms.
Keep
Upholding commitments.
Reliable individuals keep their promises.
Store
Keeping important papers in files.
Offices store documents in cabinets for record-keeping.
Keep
Maintaining states or situations.
Gardeners keep plants healthy through care.
Store
Keeping goods in a warehouse for distribution.
Businesses store excess inventory in warehouses.
Keep
Retaining personal experiences.
Photographs help people keep memories alive.
Store
Saving data in digital formats.
Companies store data on servers for easy access.
Keep
Holding onto personal items.
Collectors keep rare items for their value.
Store
A place where merchandise is offered for sale; a shop.
Keep
A keep (from the Middle English kype) is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the castle fall to an adversary.
Store
A stock or supply reserved for future use
A squirrel's store of acorns.
Keep
To retain possession of
Kept the change.
Must keep your composure.
Store
Stores Supplies, especially of food, clothing, or arms.
Keep
To have as a supply
Keep spare parts in case of emergency.
Store
A place where commodities are kept; a warehouse or storehouse.
Keep
To provide (a family, for example) with maintenance and support
"There's little to earn and many to keep" (Charles Kingsley).
Store
A great quantity or number; an abundance.
Keep
To support (a mistress or lover) financially.
Store
To reserve or put away for future use.
Keep
To put customarily; store
Where do you keep your saw?.
Store
To fill, supply, or stock.
Keep
To supply with room and board for a charge
Keep boarders.
Store
To deposit or receive in a storehouse or warehouse for safekeeping.
Keep
To raise
Keep chickens.
Store
(Computers) To copy (data) into memory or onto a storage device, such as a hard disk.
Keep
To maintain for use or service
An urbanite who didn't keep a car.
Store
A place where items may be accumulated or routinely kept.
This building used to be a store for old tires.
Keep
To manage, tend, or have charge of
Keep the shop while I'm away.
Store
A supply held in storage.
Keep
To preserve (food).
Store
(mainly North American) A place where items may be purchased; a shop.
I need to get some milk from the grocery store.
Keep
To cause to continue in a state, condition, or course of action
Tried to keep the patient calm.
Store
Memory.
The main store of 1000 36-bit words seemed large at the time.
Keep
To maintain records or entries in
Keep a yearly diary.
Store
A great quantity or number; abundance.
Keep
To enter (data) in a book
Keep financial records.
Store
A head of store cattle (feeder cattle to be sold to others for finishing); a store cattle beast.
Keep
To detain
Was kept after school.
Store
(transitive) To keep (something) while not in use, generally in a place meant for that purpose.
I'll store these books in the attic.
Keep
To restrain
Kept the child away from the stove.
Kept the crowd back with barriers.
Store
Contain.
The cabinets store all the food the mice would like.
Keep
To prevent or deter
Tried to keep the ice from melting.
Store
Have the capacity and capability to contain.
They sell boxes that store 24 mason jars.
Keep
To refrain from divulging
Keep a secret.
Store
To write (something) into memory or registers.
This operation stores the result on the stack.
Keep
To save; reserve
Keep extra money for emergencies.
Store
That which is accumulated, or massed together; a source from which supplies may be drawn; hence, an abundance; a great quantity, or a great number.
The ships are fraught with store of victuals.
With store of ladies, whose bright eyesRain influence, and give the prize.
Keep
To adhere or conform to; follow
Keep late hours.
Store
A place of deposit for goods, esp. for large quantities; a storehouse; a warehouse; a magazine.
Keep
To be faithful to; fulfill
Keep one's word.
Store
Any place where goods are sold, whether by wholesale or retail; a shop.
Keep
To celebrate; observe
Keep the Sabbath.
Store
Articles, especially of food, accumulated for some specific object; supplies, as of provisions, arms, ammunition, and the like; as, the stores of an army, of a ship, of a family.
His swine, his horse, his stoor, and his poultry.
In his needy shop a tortoise hung,An alligator stuffed, and other skinsOf ill-shaped fishes; and about his shelvesA beggarly account of empty boxes.
Sulphurous and nitrous foam, . . . Concocted and adjusted, they reducedTo blackest grain, and into store conveyed.
Keep
To remain in a state or condition; stay
Keep in line.
Keep quiet.
Kept well.
Store
Accumulated; hoarded.
Keep
To continue to do
Keep on talking.
Keep guessing.
Store
To collect as a reserved supply; to accumulate; to lay away.
Dora stored what little she could save.
Keep
To remain fresh or unspoiled
The dessert won't keep.
Store
To furnish; to supply; to replenish; esp., to stock or furnish against a future time.
Her mind with thousand virtues stored.
Wise Plato said the world with men was stored.
Having stored a pond of four acres with carps, tench, and other fish.
Keep
To restrain oneself; hold oneself back
I couldn't keep from eavesdropping.
Store
To deposit in a store, warehouse, or other building, for preservation; to warehouse; as, to store goods.
Keep
Care; charge
The child is in my keep for the day.
Store
A mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services;
He bought it at a shop on Cape Cod
Keep
The means by which one is supported
Earn one's keep.
Store
A supply of something available for future use;
He brought back a large store of Cuban cigars
Keep
The stronghold of a castle.
Store
An electronic memory device;
A memory and the CPU form the central part of a computer to which peripherals are attached
Keep
A jail.
Store
A depository for goods;
Storehouses were built close to the docks
Keep
To continue in (a course or mode of action); to not intermit or fall from; to uphold or maintain.
To keep silence;
To keep possession
Store
Keep or lay aside for future use;
Store grain for the winter
The bear stores fat for the period of hibernation when he doesn't eat
Keep
To remain faithful to a given promise or word.
To keep one's word;
To keep one's promise
Store
Find a place for and put away for storage;
Where should we stow the vegetables?
I couldn't store all the books in the attic so I sold some
Keep
(transitive) To hold the status of something.
Keep
To maintain possession of.
I keep a small stock of painkillers for emergencies.
Keep
To maintain the condition of; to preserve in a certain state.
I keep my specimens under glass to protect them.
The abundance of squirrels kept the dogs running for hours.
Keep
(transitive) To record transactions, accounts, or events in.
I used to keep a diary.
Keep
(transitive) To enter (accounts, records, etc.) in a book.
Keep
(archaic) To remain in; to be confined to.
Keep
To restrain.
I keep my pet gerbil away from my brother.
Don't let me keep you; I know you have things to be doing.
Keep
(with from) To watch over, look after, guard, protect.
May the Lord keep you from harm.
Keep
To supply with necessities and financially support (a person).
He kept a mistress for over ten years.
Keep
(of living things) To raise; to care for.
He has been keeping orchids since retiring.
Keep
To refrain from freely disclosing (a secret).
Keep
To maintain (an establishment or institution); to conduct; to manage.
Keep
To have habitually in stock for sale.
Keep
(intransitive) To hold or be held in a state.
Keep
(obsolete) To reside for a time; to lodge; to dwell.
She kept to her bed while the fever lasted.
Keep
To continue.
I keep taking the tablets, but to no avail.
Keep
To remain edible or otherwise usable.
Potatoes can keep if they are in a root cellar.
Latex paint won't keep indefinitely.
Keep
(copulative) To remain in a state.
The rabbit avoided detection by keeping still.
Keep calm! There's no need to panic.
Keep
(obsolete) To wait for, keep watch for.
Keep
To act as wicket-keeper.
Godfrey Evans kept for England for many years.
Keep
To take care; to be solicitous; to watch.
Keep
To be in session; to take place.
School keeps today.
Keep
(transitive) To observe; to adhere to; to fulfill; to not swerve from or violate.
Keep
To visit (a place) often; to frequent.
Keep
To observe or celebrate (a holiday).
The feast of St. Stephen is kept on December 26.
Keep
(historical) The main tower of a castle or fortress, located within the castle walls.
Keep
The food or money required to keep someone alive and healthy; one's support, maintenance.
He works as a cobbler's apprentice for his keep.
Keep
(obsolete) The act or office of keeping; custody; guard; care; heed; charge; notice.
Keep
The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case.
To be in good keep
Keep
(obsolete) That which is kept in charge; a charge.
Keep
(engineering) A cap for holding something, such as a journal box, in place.
Keep
To care; to desire.
I kepe not of armes for to yelp [boast].
Keep
To hold; to restrain from departure or removal; not to let go of; to retain in one's power or possession; not to lose; to retain; to detain.
If we lose the field,We can not keep the town.
That I may know what keeps me here with you.
If we would weigh and keep in our minds what we are considering, that would instruct us.
Keep
To cause to remain in a given situation or condition; to maintain unchanged; to hold or preserve in any state or tenor.
His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal.
Keep a stiff rein, and move but gently on.
Keep
To have in custody; to have in some place for preservation; to take charge of.
The crown of Stephanus, first king of Hungary, was always kept in the castle of Vicegrade.
Keep
To preserve from danger, harm, or loss; to guard.
Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee.
Keep
To preserve from discovery or publicity; not to communicate, reveal, or betray, as a secret.
Great are thy virtues . . . though kept from man.
Keep
To attend upon; to have the care of; to tend.
And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it.
In her girlish age, she kept sheep on the moor.
Keep
To record transactions, accounts, or events in; as, to keep books, a journal, etc.; also, to enter (as accounts, records, etc. ) in a book.
Keep
To maintain, as an establishment, institution, or the like; to conduct; to manage; as, to keep store.
Like a pedant that keeps a school.
Every one of them kept house by himself.
Keep
To supply with necessaries of life; to entertain; as, to keep boarders.
Keep
To have in one's service; to have and maintain, as an assistant, a servant, a mistress, a horse, etc.
I keep but three men and a boy.
Keep
To have habitually in stock for sale.
Keep
To continue in, as a course or mode of action; not to intermit or fall from; to hold to; to maintain; as, to keep silence; to keep one's word; to keep possession.
Both day and night did we keep company.
Within this portal as I kept my watch.
Keep
To observe; to adhere to; to fulfill; not to swerve from or violate; to practice or perform, as duty; not to neglect; to be faithful to.
I have kept the faith.
Him whom to love is to obey, and keepHis great command.
Keep
To confine one's self to; not to quit; to remain in; as, to keep one's house, room, bed, etc.; hence, to haunt; to frequent.
'Tis hallowed ground;Fairies, and fawns, and satyrs do it keep.
Keep
To observe duly, as a festival, etc.; to celebrate; to solemnize; as, to keep a feast.
I went with them to the house of God . . . with a multitude that kept holyday.
Keep
To remain in any position or state; to continue; to abide; to stay; as, to keep at a distance; to keep aloft; to keep near; to keep in the house; to keep before or behind; to keep in favor; to keep out of company, or out reach.
Keep
To last; to endure; to remain unimpaired.
If the malt be not thoroughly dried, the ale it makes will not keep.
Keep
To reside for a time; to lodge; to dwell.
Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps.
Keep
To take care; to be solicitous; to watch.
Keep that the lusts choke not the word of God that is in us.
Keep
To be in session; as, school keeps to-day.
Keep
The act or office of keeping; custody; guard; care; heed; charge.
Pan, thou god of shepherds all,Which of our tender lambkins takest keep.
Keep
The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case; as, to be in good keep.
Keep
The means or provisions by which one is kept; maintenance; support; as, the keep of a horse.
Grass equal to the keep of seven cows.
I performed some services to the college in return for my keep.
Keep
That which keeps or protects; a stronghold; a fortress; a castle; specifically, the strongest and securest part of a castle, often used as a place of residence by the lord of the castle, especially during a siege; the dungeon. See Illust. of Castle.
The prison strong,Within whose keep the captive knights were laid.
The lower chambers of those gloomy keeps.
I think . . . the keep, or principal part of a castle, was so called because the lord and his domestic circle kept, abode, or lived there.
Keep
That which is kept in charge; a charge.
Often he used of his keepA sacrifice to bring.
Keep
A cap for retaining anything, as a journal box, in place.
Keep
The 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
Keep
The main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress
Keep
A cell in a jail or prison
Keep
Keep in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g.,
Keep clean
Hold in place
She always held herself as a lady
The students keep me on my toes
Keep
Continue 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
Keep
Retain possession of;
Can I keep my old stuffed animals?
She kept her maiden name after she married
Keep
Prevent 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
Keep
Conform one's action or practice to;
Keep appointments
She never keeps her promises
We kept to the original conditions of the contract
Keep
Observe correctly or closely;
The pianist kept time with the metronome
Keep count
I cannot keep track of all my employees
Keep
Look after; be the keeper of; have charge of;
He keeps the shop when I am gone
Keep
Maintain by writing regular records;
Keep a diary
Maintain a record
Keep notes
Keep
Supply with room and board;
He is keeping three women in the guest cottage
Keep boarders
Keep
Allow to remain in a place or position;
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
Keep
Supply 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
Keep
Fail to spoil or rot;
These potatoes keep for a long time
Keep
Celebrate, as of holidays or rites;
Keep the commandments
Celebrate Christmas
Observe Yom Kippur
Keep
Keep under control; keep in check;
Suppress a smile
Keep your temper
Keep your cool
Keep
Maintain in safety from injury, harm, or danger;
May God keep you
Keep
Raise;
She keeps a few chickens in the yard
He keeps bees
Keep
Retain rights to;
Keep my job for me while I give birth
Keep my seat, please
Keep open the possibility of a merger
Keep
Store or keep customarily;
Where do you keep your gardening tools?
Keep
Have 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
Keep
Maintain for use and service;
I keep a car in the countryside
She keeps an apartment in Paris for her shopping trips
Keep
Hold and prevent from leaving;
The student was kept after school
Keep
Prevent (food) from rotting;
Preserved meats
Keep potatoes fresh
Common Curiosities
How do storage and keeping differ in terms of duration?
Storage often implies a temporary period until the item is needed again, while keeping can range from short-term to indefinite durations.
Why is organization important in storage?
Organization is crucial in storage to ensure items are easily accessible, efficiently managed, and protected from damage.
What does it mean to keep something?
Keeping something means retaining possession of it or maintaining its condition over time, with a broader application that includes tangible and intangible items.
Can something be stored and kept at the same time?
Yes, items can be both stored and kept simultaneously, as storing can be a method of keeping something preserved or in good condition.
What does it mean to store something?
Storing something means placing it in a designated location for future use, often with an emphasis on organization and preservation.
What role does maintenance play in keeping?
Maintenance is a key aspect of keeping, as it involves efforts to preserve or improve the condition of something over time.
What are some common locations for storing items?
Common storage locations include warehouses, closets, pantries, and digital databases, each designed for specific types of items.
How does digital storage work?
Digital storage involves saving data on electronic devices or cloud servers, allowing for efficient management and access to information.
How does keeping relate to emotional or sentimental value?
Keeping often involves emotional or sentimental reasons, reflecting the personal or historical value attributed to an item or memory.
What legal aspects can influence the decision to keep something?
Legal considerations, such as ownership rights, privacy laws, and contractual obligations, can impact the decision to keep documents, data, or property.
How can someone decide what to store and what to keep?
Decisions about what to store and what to keep are often based on the item's practical utility, sentimental value, legal requirements, and available space.
What considerations are important when deciding to store or keep something?
Important considerations include the item's value, the intended duration of storage or keeping, available space, and the level of care required.
Can the terms store and keep be used interchangeably?
While related, store and keep are not fully interchangeable, as each term emphasizes different aspects of possession and management.
What environmental considerations apply to storing and keeping physical items?
Environmental considerations include the need for climate control, protection from pests, and sustainable practices to minimize waste and energy consumption.
How does technology affect storage and keeping practices?
Technology has significantly transformed storage and keeping practices, enabling more efficient, secure, and scalable solutions, especially for digital items.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
