housekeep
Americanverb (used without object)
Etymology
Origin of housekeep
First recorded in 1835–45; back formation from housekeeping
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.
See Examples For:
Like the old woman who lived in a shoe, the medical scientists who housekeep for vitamins have an unmanageable lot of charges.
From Time Magazine Archive
May she continue to write her charming poetry, housekeep, and defend all other keepers of the home for many more years to come.
From Time Magazine Archive
I won’t housekeep any more for the present, father.”
From Polly A New-Fashioned Girl by Meade, L. T.
There can’t be waste going on in the house—I won’t have it, not when I housekeep, at any rate.
From Polly A New-Fashioned Girl by Meade, L. T.
And it's going to be great fun to housekeep with Miss de Lisle.
From Captain Jim by Bruce, Mary Grant
An engineering student at London University who previously worked as a housekeeping assistant at a hospital in Birmingham.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Either way, he could cast the changes not as a turn toward higher rates, but as housekeeping for a Fed that he wants to talk less.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
One of his former co-workers now instead helps his wife with housekeeping work, while at least two simply stay home, living off their savings and odd jobs, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
This includes restaurant workers like bartenders, wait staff and dishwashers; hospitality workers including concierges and housekeeping staff; as well as tour guides, personal trainers and hairdressers.
From MarketWatch ● May 14, 2026
All afternoon I pottered about in my study with my housekeeping chores, and by the time I finished, there were six new box files on the shelves.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
"I've housekept so long I likely know what are the belongings of a handy house;" and she too settled herself with paper and pencil and spectacles.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 17, No. 100, April, 1876 by Various
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.
