groundskeeper

American  

[groundz-kee-per] / ˈgraʊndzˌki pər /

noun

• groundskeepers
  plural

1. a person who is responsible for the care and maintenance of a particular tract of land, as an estate, a park, or a cemetery.

2. a person in charge of maintaining a football field, baseball diamond, etc.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• groundskeeping
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• groundskeepers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of groundskeeper

1930–35; + grounds ( def. ) “lawn and gardens” + keeper

Explanation

A groundskeeper is someone who's responsible for a property, often caring for gardens, lawns, and plants. The groundskeeper at the zoo works hard to keep the all the habitats looking perfect. Groundskeepers care for the grounds of a wide variety of public and private settings, including schools, state parks, baseball fields, botanical gardens, and resorts. The job of being a groundskeeper (sometimes called a "landscaper") can involve planting, weeding, mowing lawns, trimming hedges and trees, watering gardens, controlling pests, and more. If you love working outdoors and know how to use a lawn mower, you might enjoy being a groundskeeper.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

groundskeeper groundskeepers

Like Epstein, whose father was a New York City parks groundskeeper, they had stratospheric trajectories from, say, a working-class background to running a multinational corporation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026

Bayer bought Monsanto in 2018 for $63 billion, and two months later, a California jury ruled in favor of a groundskeeper who contracted non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 2, 2025

As a teenager, he got a job at the ballpark as a groundskeeper and cleaner, and worked his way up to center field.

From New York Times ● Jun. 19, 2024

Shaun Ilten, the groundskeeper at Dignity Health Sports Park, joined with Goldenvoice to take care of the first job, preparing two private pitches for each team.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2024

However, Haymitch’s house, despite the care taken by the groundskeeper, exudes an air of abandonment and neglect.

From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

If we are “Five-Star”-fortunate, we can hire assistance to handle the inevitable difficulties associated with this time of life, whether that means groundskeepers or divorce lawyers.

From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026

Tenured professors doubling as groundskeepers at a $70,000-a-year private college in New England is another sign of what is shaping up as the bleakest era for America’s smaller private schools.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026

The critter’s surprise appearance on the field in the first half led to comic scenes of groundskeepers futilely trying to trap it in a trash can.

From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2024

The cemetery has groundskeepers, but Ito likes to give a bit of extra care.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2023

There are four hundred of them, plus thirty instructors and fifty more on the staff, NCOs and cooks, groomsmen and groundskeepers.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr