steward
Americannoun
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stewards
plural
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a person who manages another's property or financial affairs; one who administers anything as the agent of another or others.
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a person who has charge of the household of another, buying or obtaining food, directing the servants, etc.
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an employee who has charge of the table, wine, servants, etc., in a club, restaurant, or the like.
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a person who attends to the domestic concerns of persons on board a vessel, as in overseeing maids and waiters.
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an employee on a ship, train, or bus who waits on and is responsible for the comfort of passengers, takes orders for or distributes food, etc.
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a flight attendant.
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a person appointed by an organization or group to supervise the affairs of that group at certain functions.
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U.S. Navy. a petty officer in charge of officer's quarters and mess.
verb (used with object)
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stewards,
present (3rd person singular)
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stewarded,
past participle, past
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stewarding
present participle
verb (used without object)
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stewards,
present (3rd person singular)
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stewarded,
past participle, past
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stewarding
present participle
noun
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a person who administers the property, house, finances, etc, of another
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a person who manages the eating arrangements, staff, or service at a club, hotel, etc
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a person who attends to passengers on an aircraft, ship or train
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a mess attendant in a naval mess afloat or ashore
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a person who helps to supervise some event or proceedings in an official capacity
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short for shop steward
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stewardsimple
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stewardssimple
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have stewardedperfect
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has stewardedperfect
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am stewardingprogressive
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are stewardingprogressive
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is stewardingprogressive
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have been stewardingperfect progressive
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has been stewardingperfect progressive
Past
-
stewardedsimple
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had stewardedperfect
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was stewardingprogressive
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were stewardingprogressive
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had been stewardingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of steward
before 900; Middle English; Old English stīweard, stigweard, equivalent to stig- (sense uncertain; probably “house, hall”; see sty 1) + weard ward ( def. )
Explanation
A steward is someone who takes care of the grounds or animals of a particular place. If your parents are always traveling and you have to take care of your six younger siblings, you probably feel like the steward of the house. You might have heard the term "stewardess," a female flight attendant, but the name has trickled out of use in favor of the gender-neutral "flight attendant." A steward is the male version of that. Anyone who takes care of places or people is a steward. You can be a steward of artifacts from an architectural dig. You can also be elected to be the steward of your co-workers retirement fund. Either way, someone's trusting you with their stuff.
Vocabulary lists containing steward
This Week in Words: October 28 - November 3, 2017
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"Why Exploring the Ocean Is Mankind's Next Giant Leap," Vocabulary from the commentary
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Theodore Roosevelt on "New Nationalism" (1910)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“The issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner’s CNN,” Ellison wrote in his op-ed in the New York Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
"The issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner's CNN. There has been speculation about my politics, my loyalties, my intentions," he wrote.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
But the U.S. needs every generation to steward the nation, this great inheritance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Former Borussia Dortmund manager Edin Terzic admitted that he disguised himself as a steward to watch a Real Madrid training session before a Champions League fixture in 2013.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
A year after Jackson arrived, the 1830 U.S. census listed twenty-four people employed at the White House, most of them paid workers managed by steward Antoine Michel Giusta.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
“We want to be able to be responsible stewards of this precious resource, but also make sure that the patient gets the the best treatment.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
“We are honored to be entrusted as the next stewards of the Seattle Seahawks,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Freeholders argue that they act as "stewards" of buildings.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
“That is stupidity 101. We have got to be better stewards of the American taxpayer’s dollar.”
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
But the pressure from the stewards and the press was too much to bear.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
“Lovingly stewarded by the same family for nearly 70 years, this grand residence has been thoughtfully updated and modernized in preparation for the next chapter in its illustrious history.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 14, 2026
The 54-year-old has stewarded projects including adding new developments at the parks such as World of Frozen and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026
By contrast, parks owned and operated by tribes are better stewarded.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
One success story of loko i'a restoration is the He'eia Fishpond, located in Windward O'ahu and stewarded by Native Hawaiian nonprofit, Paepae o He'eia.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 26, 2024
When we closed up at nine he went to some other part of the hotel and stewarded.
From Working With the Working Woman by Cornelia Stratton Parker
And we need to fall into line in “removing regulatory barriers that hinder U.S. technological and economic leadership while responsibly stewarding coastal resources.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
But stewarding that authority demands humility and faith in the university’s distinct role in cultivating debate—neither proscribing questions nor prescribing answers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
When Lee brings everything home with a message about creating real art from the heart and the responsibility of stewarding Black culture, it’s a bit too late to take it seriously.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2025
He added that increased investment in stewarding and crowd management was "now essential to allow the police to focus on their primary role of crime prevention and public protection".
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2025
I say," said Whistler to me, "are you stewarding?
From London Days A Book of Reminiscences by Arthur Warren
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
