keep house

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keep house (third-person singular simple present keeps house, present participle keeping house, simple past and past participle kept house)

1. (idiomatic) To take care of domestic chores; work as a housekeeper.
   • [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:

     So I went to keep house with him at the Why Not? and my aunt sent down my bag of clothes, and would have made over to Elzevir the pittance that my father left for my keep, but he said it was not needful, and he would have none of it.

2. To seclude oneself in one's house in order to evade the demands of creditors.

• housekeep