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
-
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:
Sarah Prescott, the club's steward, described the evening as "overwhelming and unbelievable", thanking Jones for choosing the club to host the event.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Note: While checking on the health of your trees, be a good steward of the planet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Because a steward of the hundreds might be able to benefit financially from the role, or promote the interests of the crown, it was seen as a conflict of interest.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
“The Moreno Family has been honored to steward the Angels for 23 years,” the ex-Angels owner said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
Indeed, the steward said we belonged to our lord as well.
From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi
The referee stopped play and the stadium announcer urged fans not to throw objects on to the pitch, while stewards hastily removed the items from the grass.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Shortly after completing it, he blocked Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri and the stewards imposed a three-place grid penalty.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
“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
Santa Anita had made films of the race, but the stewards had not looked at them.
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 shipments could be the start of a stream of exports stewarded by the American government and handled by European companies that are used to working in markets many Western firms wouldn’t touch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 17, 2026
Much the same as the teams stewarded by the man he's just surpassed, the late Craig Brown.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2025
This park, and all of Nunavut, is Inuit Nunangat -- Inuit homeland in Canada -- and the park protects sites and biodiversity stewarded by Inuit since time immemorial.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 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
Commercial revenues from London Stadium are expected to fall if West Ham play in the Championship, while stewarding costs over 23 home games would be greater than 19 Premier League home matches.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
“Maybe they don’t need to know about all the fighting that we have to do before they get to go out and enjoy and be tribal guardians stewarding their land.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 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
Mr Comfort said that while the GLA and the two councils had provided "substantial support" for stewarding during past festivals, they could no longer "meet the growing operational requirements identified in the review".
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2025
He had gladly reinstated his mother in the gloomy house, and his main occupation now lay in stewarding his estate, which was not large.
From Life's Little Ironies by Thomas Hardy
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