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

But what does this really mean for Charu, who is obliged by the death of her mother to take up the housekeeping?

From The Wall Street Journal

We marvel at what 50-somethings get done during a workweek, and we recall with incredulity how much we accomplished daily while working and child-rearing and housekeeping and traveling and negotiating the city.

From The Wall Street Journal

“My friend Paul was corresponding with your dad on my behalf about the housekeeping position? And our…special circumstances?”

From Literature

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

From Barron's

"I'm including the housekeeping, the janitorial, the booking staff, the maintenance, as well as the consultants, the doctors, the nurses, physios and others," she added.

From BBC

Related Words

• housework