keeper

[kee-per]

noun

1. a person who guards or watches, as at a prison or gate.

   Synonyms: jailer, warden

2. a person who assumes responsibility for another's behavior.

   He refused to be his brother's keeper.

   Synonyms: guardian, custodian

3. a person who owns or operates a business (usually used in combination).

   a hotelkeeper.

4. a person who is responsible for the maintenance of something (often used in combination).

   a zookeeper; a groundskeeper.

5. a person charged with responsibility for the preservation and conservation of something valuable, as a curator or game warden.

6. a person who conforms to or abides by a requirement.

   a keeper of his word.

7. a fish that is of sufficient size to be caught and retained without violating the law.

8. Football.,  a play in which the quarterback retains the ball and runs with it, usually after faking a hand-off or pass.

9. something that serves to hold in place, retain, etc., as on a door lock.

10. something that lasts well, as a fruit.

11. guard ring.

12. an iron or steel bar placed across the poles of a permanent horseshoe magnet for preserving the strength of the magnet during storage.

keeper

/ ˈkiːpə /

noun

1. a person in charge of animals, esp in a zoo

2. a person in charge of a museum, collection, or section of a museum

3. a person in charge of other people, such as a warder in a jail

4. See goalkeeper wicketkeeper gamekeeper

5. a person who keeps something

6. a device, such as a clip, for keeping something in place

7. a soft iron or steel bar placed across the poles of a permanent magnet to close the magnetic circuit when it is not in use

Other Word Forms

• keeperless adjective
• keepership noun
• underkeeper noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of keeper¹

First recorded in 1250–1300, keeper is from the Middle English word keper. See keep, -er ¹

Example Sentences

We had moments where we needed luck and a very good keeper.

Read more on BBC

If the offside player is at the opposite side of the goal to the keeper, would we really want a goal to be ruled out?

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Accountants were no longer ledger‑keepers; they handled tax strategy, audit planning, client advisory and compliance.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Australian Carpenter should have scored the winner too but dragged her close-range finish wide with 10 minutes to go and only the keeper to beat.

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When the party moved to elsewhere and the Hampden stands were eventually empty, there was veteran keeper Gordon, drafted back in for this camp, standing on the pitch getting pictured with his family.

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Related Words

• attendant 
• caretaker 
• curator 
• custodian 
• defender