keep measures

keep measures

English

Alternative forms

• keep measure, observe measures

Verb

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

1. (obsolete) To show restraint; to behave with moderation. [15th–19th c.]
   • 1863, Charles Cowden Clarke, Shakespeare-characters:

     He keeps no measure in his contempt for him.

2. (obsolete) To act in due consideration with (a person, opinion etc.). [18th–19th c.]
   • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, chapter 88, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume III, London: Harrison and Co., […], published 1781, OCLC 316121541:

     Upon my return to Bath, I was again harrassed by lord —, who came thither accompanied by my father, whom I was very glad to see, though he importuned me to comply with my husband's desire, and for the future keep measures with the world.