keeper

[ kee-per ]

/ ˈki pər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR keeper ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

guard ring.

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

Nearby words

keep under one's hat, keep under wraps, keep up, keep watch, keep your . . ., keeper, keeper hook, keeper ring, keeping, keeping room, keeping up with the joneses

Origin of keeper

First recorded in 1250–1300, keeper is from the Middle English word keper. See keep, -er¹

SYNONYMS FOR keeper

1 warden, jailer.

2 custodian, guardian.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR keeper ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

keep·er·less, adjectivekeep·er·ship, nounun·der·keep·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for keeper

Now, the goalkeeper is out with a memoir about his life until that point: The Keeper: A Life of Saving Goals and Achieving Them.
Tim Howard’s Wall of Intensity|William O’Connor|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“The state has been trying to lay its hands on them for years,” one keeper of a 700 book-strong library told the paper.
The Lost Libraries of the Sahara‬|Nina Strochlic|September 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In a lot of ways, that's what My Brother's Keeper is all about, and why it's so important.
Billie Holiday, Barack Obama, and the Pain of Black Women|Joshua DuBois|June 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The International Olympic Committee is the keeper of the Olympic flame, and has immense power over national Olympic committees.
Why Won’t IOC Push Saudi Arabia on Women for Olympic Games?|Nikki Dryden|February 20, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Her mother told her, “You had better catch a keeper before you get too old to get caught!”
Marriage, Red-State Style|Anna Fields|October 29, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Mrs. Archbold, Dr. Wolf, and his arch enemy Rooke, the keeper.
Hard Cash|Charles Reade
One of the leopards was carried by his keeper a pick-a-back.
The Old Showmen and the Old London Fairs|Thomas Frost
He questioned the keeper of the prison, who had access to the Beaumonts, and was by him directed to Jobson.
The Loyalists, Vol. 1-3|Jane West
Captain Brandt picked up the glass that the keeper had dropped.
Caleb West, Master Diver|F. Hopkinson Smith
But the keeper, as I say, takes all this as a matter of course.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 104, January 28, 1893|Various

British Dictionary definitions for keeper

keeper

/ (ˈkiːpə) /

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

See goalkeeper, wicketkeeper, gamekeeper

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

Derived Forms

keeperless, adjectivekeepership, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012