housekeeping

American  

[hous-kee-ping] / ˈhaʊsˌki pɪŋ /

noun

1. the maintenance of a house or domestic establishment.

2. the management of household affairs.

3. the management, care, and servicing of property and equipment of an industrial or commercial building or organization.

4. the ongoing routine, procedures, operations, and management of a commercial enterprise, government, organization, or the like.

5. Computers. system tasks, as initialization and managing peripheral devices, that must be done to permit a computer program to execute properly but that do not directly contribute to program output.

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housekeeping British  

/ ˈhaʊsˌkiːpɪŋ /

noun

1. the running of a household

2. money allocated for the running of a household

3. organization and tidiness in general, as of an office, shop, etc

4. the general maintenance of a computer storage system, including removal of obsolete files, documentation, security copying, etc

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Etymology

Origin of housekeeping

First recorded in 1530–40; house + keeping

Example Sentences

They’re buying apartments and workplaces, Ikea furniture and dishes, and providing housekeeping for their teenage and 20-something founders.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026

The price-target bump was a necessary bit of housekeeping after Rocket Lab’s big month.

From Barron's • Dec. 23, 2025

We also have a housekeeping note: The Surge will be going on hiatus after this week, likely through the end of the year.

From Slate • Oct. 18, 2025

In the most recent figures, for 2023-24, the biggest items were property maintenance and staff payroll, with smaller amounts for travel and hospitality and housekeeping.

From BBC • May 10, 2025

Now she was acting like an in-law, like an aunt, dabbling at helping Ruth and the girls, but having no interest in or knowledge of decent housekeeping, she got in the way.

From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison

Related Words

• housework