"for keeps" meaning in English

See for keeps in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Prepositional phrase

Audio: en-au-for keeps.ogg
Head templates: {{head|en|prepositional phrase|head=}} for keeps, {{en-PP}} for keeps
  1. (gaming) With an agreement or intention to retain what one gains or receives. Categories (topical): Gaming
    Sense id: en-for_keeps-en-prep_phrase-XuPYs1MR Topics: games, gaming
  2. (idiomatic, by extension) With a strong competitive resolve to win or succeed, as in sports or business. Tags: broadly, idiomatic
    Sense id: en-for_keeps-en-prep_phrase-i4t708oF Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 15 85 0 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 21 79 0 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 11 89 0
  3. Permanently, so that one can keep something indefinitely.
    Sense id: en-for_keeps-en-prep_phrase-PjvMPbUI
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: for good, once and for all
{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "for keeps",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "for keeps",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Gaming",
          "orig": "en:Gaming",
          "parents": [
            "Games",
            "Recreation",
            "Human activity",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "When we gamble at poker, we play for keeps.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "With an agreement or intention to retain what one gains or receives."
      ],
      "id": "en-for_keeps-en-prep_phrase-XuPYs1MR",
      "links": [
        [
          "gaming",
          "gaming#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "agreement",
          "agreement"
        ],
        [
          "intention",
          "intention"
        ],
        [
          "retain",
          "retain"
        ],
        [
          "gain",
          "gain"
        ],
        [
          "receive",
          "receive"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(gaming) With an agreement or intention to retain what one gains or receives."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "games",
        "gaming"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "15 85 0",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 79 0",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 89 0",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007 Dec. 7, \"Steelers' Defense Anticipates Patriots Matchup,\" KDKA.com (Pittsburg)",
          "text": "\"We both got a job to do. They play for keeps and we play for keeps too,\" Haggans said."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "With a strong competitive resolve to win or succeed, as in sports or business."
      ],
      "id": "en-for_keeps-en-prep_phrase-i4t708oF",
      "links": [
        [
          "strong",
          "strong"
        ],
        [
          "competitive",
          "competitive"
        ],
        [
          "resolve",
          "resolve"
        ],
        [
          "win",
          "win"
        ],
        [
          "succeed",
          "succeed"
        ],
        [
          "sports",
          "sports"
        ],
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, by extension) With a strong competitive resolve to win or succeed, as in sports or business."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1925 August 10, “Golf: Shenecossett Invitation”, in Time:",
          "text": "The Griswold trophy was presented to its winner, for keeps, since it was the third time she had won it.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Permanently, so that one can keep something indefinitely."
      ],
      "id": "en-for_keeps-en-prep_phrase-PjvMPbUI",
      "links": [
        [
          "Permanently",
          "permanently"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-for keeps.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9a/En-au-for_keeps.ogg/En-au-for_keeps.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/En-au-for_keeps.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "38 25 36",
      "word": "for good"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "38 25 36",
      "word": "once and for all"
    }
  ],
  "word": "for keeps"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English prepositional phrases",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "for keeps",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "for keeps",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "en:Gaming"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "When we gamble at poker, we play for keeps.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "With an agreement or intention to retain what one gains or receives."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "gaming",
          "gaming#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "agreement",
          "agreement"
        ],
        [
          "intention",
          "intention"
        ],
        [
          "retain",
          "retain"
        ],
        [
          "gain",
          "gain"
        ],
        [
          "receive",
          "receive"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(gaming) With an agreement or intention to retain what one gains or receives."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "games",
        "gaming"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007 Dec. 7, \"Steelers' Defense Anticipates Patriots Matchup,\" KDKA.com (Pittsburg)",
          "text": "\"We both got a job to do. They play for keeps and we play for keeps too,\" Haggans said."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "With a strong competitive resolve to win or succeed, as in sports or business."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "strong",
          "strong"
        ],
        [
          "competitive",
          "competitive"
        ],
        [
          "resolve",
          "resolve"
        ],
        [
          "win",
          "win"
        ],
        [
          "succeed",
          "succeed"
        ],
        [
          "sports",
          "sports"
        ],
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, by extension) With a strong competitive resolve to win or succeed, as in sports or business."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1925 August 10, “Golf: Shenecossett Invitation”, in Time:",
          "text": "The Griswold trophy was presented to its winner, for keeps, since it was the third time she had won it.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Permanently, so that one can keep something indefinitely."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Permanently",
          "permanently"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-for keeps.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9a/En-au-for_keeps.ogg/En-au-for_keeps.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/En-au-for_keeps.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "for good"
    },
    {
      "word": "once and for all"
    }
  ],
  "word": "for keeps"
}

Download raw JSONL data for for keeps meaning in English (2.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-21 using wiktextract (7c21d10 and f2e72e5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.