keep vs stay

keep

verb
  • To restrain. 

  • To supply with necessities and financially support (a person). 

  • To refrain from freely disclosing (a secret). 

  • To continue in (a course or mode of action); to not intermit or fall from; to uphold or maintain. 

  • To remain edible or otherwise usable. 

  • To remain in a state. 

  • To observe; to adhere to; to fulfill; to not swerve from or violate. 

  • To raise; to care for. 

  • To have habitually in stock for sale. 

  • To act as wicket-keeper. 

  • To enter (accounts, records, etc.) in a book. 

  • To maintain the condition of; to preserve in a certain state. 

  • To maintain (an establishment or institution); to conduct; to manage. 

  • To watch over, look after, guard, protect. 

  • To maintain possession of. 

  • To record transactions, accounts, or events in. 

  • To remain faithful to a given promise or word. 

  • To continue. 

noun
  • The state of being kept; hence, the resulting condition; case. 

  • A cap for holding something, such as a journal box, in place. 

  • The food or money required to keep someone alive and healthy; one's support, maintenance. 

  • The main tower of a castle or fortress, located within the castle walls. 

stay

verb
  • To restrain; withhold; check; stop. 

  • To live; reside 

  • To incline forward, aft, or to one side by means of stays. 

  • To put off; defer; postpone; delay; keep back. 

  • To brace or support with a stay or stays 

  • To remain in a particular place, especially for a definite or short period of time; sojourn; abide. 

  • To stop; detain; keep back; delay; hinder. 

  • To continue to have a particular quality. 

  • To change; tack; go about; be in stays, as a ship. 

  • To hold out, as in a race or contest; last or persevere to the end; to show staying power. 

  • To hold the attention of. 

  • To cause to cease; to put an end to. 

  • To prop; support; sustain; hold up; steady. 

  • To support from sinking; to sustain with strength; to satisfy in part or for the time. 

  • To tack; put on the other tack. 

noun
  • A guy, rope, or wire supporting or stabilizing a platform, such as a bridge, a pole, such as a tentpole, the mast of a derrick, or other structural element. 

  • Continuance or a period of time spent in a place; abode for an indefinite time. 

  • A piece of stiff material, such as plastic or whalebone, used to stiffen a piece of clothing. 

  • A corset. 

  • Restraint of passion; prudence; moderation; caution; steadiness; sobriety. 

  • A fixed state; fixedness; stability; permanence. 

  • A strong rope or wire supporting a mast, and leading from one masthead down to some other, or other part of the vessel. 

  • The transverse piece in a chain-cable link. 

  • A prop; a support. 

  • A postponement, especially of an execution or other punishment. 

  • A station or fixed anchorage for vessels. 

adj
  • Steep; ascending. 

  • Difficult to negotiate; not easy to access; sheer. 

  • Stiff; upright; unbending; reserved; haughty; proud. 

  • (of a roof) Steeply pitched. 

adv
  • Steeply. 

How often have the words keep and stay occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )