custodial
Americanadjective
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of or relating to custody.
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of, relating to, or appropriate to a custodian.
a building superintendent's custodial duties.
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responsible for or providing protective supervision and guardianship rather than seeking to improve or cure.
Overcrowding forces many mental hospitals to provide only custodial care.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of custodial
Explanation
Someone whose job or task is custodial is supposed to take care of you. A babysitter's job is custodial. A guardian or caregiver of any kind has a custodial duty — he or she supervises and protects another person, usually a child. After a divorce, there's sometimes only one custodial parent, while the other only visits occasionally. When a criminal is sent to prison, it's often called a "custodial sentence," because the convicted person is being watched over and supervised in jail. The Latin root is custodia, "guarding or keeping."
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.
Users who link joint or custodial accounts to the chatbot may inadvertently reveal confidential financial information about their spouse or children without their consent, Bellini said.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 1, 2026
In total, 30 people have been sentenced this week with 26 given custodial sentences ranging from 3 years and 8 months to 6 years and nine months.
From BBC • Jun. 19, 2026
"That is a significant feature when determining whether an immediate custodial sentence must follow," the judge said.
From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026
You can also set up custodial accounts, opened under the Uniform Transfer to Minors Act or the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act.
From MarketWatch • May 28, 2026
He moved from a custodial job to one in a factory as a machinist.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
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.
