caretaker

[ kair-tey-ker ]
See synonyms for: caretakercaretaking on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a person who is in charge of the maintenance of a building, estate, etc.; superintendent.

  2. a person or group that temporarily performs the duties of an office.

  1. British. a janitor.

  2. a person who takes care of another.

adjective
  1. involving the temporary performance of the duties of an office: a caretaker government.

Origin of caretaker

1
First recorded in 1855–60; care + take + -er1

Other words from caretaker

  • caretaking, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use caretaker in a sentence

  • He's care-taker during the summer for a house in River Forest, Hooligan is, and he took the girl there.

    Motor Matt's Daring Rescue | Stanley R. Matthews
  • Susannah was the care-taker of the family and looked after the farm, inheriting the Richardson energy and thrift.

  • Even the care-taker went within the thick walls of the castle, remembering, perhaps, that she also had been young once.

    Story of Chester Lawrence | Nephi Anderson
  • In what probably had been the priest's quarters in bygone days, they found an old woman who lived there as care-taker.

    Talbot's Angles | Amy E. Blanchard
  • George's father died when he was only eleven years old, but his mother proved a good care-taker for him.

British Dictionary definitions for caretaker

caretaker

/ (ˈkɛəˌteɪkə) /


noun
  1. a person who is in charge of a place or thing, esp in the owner's absence: the caretaker of a school

  2. (modifier) holding office temporarily; interim: a caretaker government

  1. social welfare a person who takes care of a vulnerable person, often a close relative: See also carer

Derived forms of caretaker

  • caretaking, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012