for keeps

1. In earnest, seriously, as in We're separating for keeps . [Late 1800s]

2. For the winner to retain, as in You can't take the marbles back; we were playing for keeps . [Mid-1800s]

3. For an indefinitely long time, forever, as in She is leaving town for keeps .

Example Sentences

"Penny Lane is in our ears and in our eyes - and this time it's for keeps."

From BBC

Putin is playing for keeps, so are the Ukrainians, and so should we.

From Salon

Calista nodded after I named each one, like she was plugging them into her brain for keeps.

From Literature

Russian troll farms spent more than a million dollars a month in the 2016 election; nowadays you can get your own custom-trained large language model for keeps, for less than $500,000.

From Scientific American

The plan was a signal that Biden is playing for keeps.

From Washington Post