keeper
Americannoun
-
a person who guards or watches, as at a prison or gate.
-
a person who assumes responsibility for another's behavior.
He refused to be his brother's keeper.
-
a person who owns or operates a business (usually used in combination).
a hotelkeeper.
-
a person who is responsible for the maintenance of something (often used in combination).
a zookeeper; a groundskeeper.
-
a person charged with responsibility for the preservation and conservation of something valuable, as a curator or game warden.
-
a person who conforms to or abides by a requirement.
a keeper of his word.
-
a fish that is of sufficient size to be caught and retained without violating the law.
-
Football. a play in which the quarterback retains the ball and runs with it, usually after faking a hand-off or pass.
-
something that serves to hold in place, retain, etc., as on a door lock.
-
something that lasts well, as a fruit.
-
an iron or steel bar placed across the poles of a permanent horseshoe magnet for preserving the strength of the magnet during storage.
noun
-
a person in charge of animals, esp in a zoo
-
a person in charge of a museum, collection, or section of a museum
-
a person in charge of other people, such as a warder in a jail
-
a person who keeps something
-
a device, such as a clip, for keeping something in place
-
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of keeper
First recorded in 1250–1300, keeper is from the Middle English word keper. See keep, -er 1
Explanation
A keeper is someone who is responsible for something, especially a property or a lot of animals. A keeper might take care of a big summer house during the winter months. You can use keeper to mean "caretaker," someone whose job involves maintaining a house, farm, estate, or grounds. The keeper of a golf course might, for example, keep the greens tidy and groomed. It's also shorthand for zookeeper, or a person who cares for the animals in a zoo. Since about 1300, keeper has meant "one who has charge of some person or thing." It comes from keep and its Old English root cepan, "seize or hold."
Vocabulary lists containing keeper
Selection Vocabulary 3, Unit 3
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Selection Vocabulary 1, Unit 3
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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:
Attending to the patrons is Sterling Lockwood, a 29-year-old American woman whose job title is concierge and keeper of secrets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
But Messi’s most common strategy is also one of the riskiest: He waits to see which way the keeper commits and then simply sends his penalty in the opposite direction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Peter Bonetti, an outstanding keeper for Chelsea, stepped in and had a nightmare.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Quinones scored the first goal of the World Cup, drilling the ball through South Africa keeper Ronwen Williams' legs just nine minutes into the tournament.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
Maise, the keeper of the books, was standing, with her son and daughter.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
Subasic and Livakovic are two of the only keepers, along with Portugal's Ricardo, to save three in one shootout.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
Now he has a World Cup shutout and with another clean sheet Thursday, he’ll join Matt Turner as the only American keepers to post back-to-back shutouts in a World Cup in 96 years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
The two-year-old furry critter, described by keepers as extremely shy, was being kept in the hospital for diagnostic testing, it said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
“I was one of the best keepers on my island,” Vozinha said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
Five of Charlie’s fellow keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-gray eggs between them in a blanket.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
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.
