keeper
Americannoun
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a person who guards or watches, as at a prison or gate.
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a person who assumes responsibility for another's behavior.
He refused to be his brother's keeper.
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a person who owns or operates a business (usually used in combination).
a hotelkeeper.
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a person who is responsible for the maintenance of something (often used in combination).
a zookeeper; a groundskeeper.
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a person charged with responsibility for the preservation and conservation of something valuable, as a curator or game warden.
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a person who conforms to or abides by a requirement.
a keeper of his word.
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a fish that is of sufficient size to be caught and retained without violating the law.
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Football. a play in which the quarterback retains the ball and runs with it, usually after faking a hand-off or pass.
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something that serves to hold in place, retain, etc., as on a door lock.
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something that lasts well, as a fruit.
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an iron or steel bar placed across the poles of a permanent horseshoe magnet for preserving the strength of the magnet during storage.
noun
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a person in charge of animals, esp in a zoo
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a person in charge of a museum, collection, or section of a museum
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a person in charge of other people, such as a warder in a jail
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a person who keeps something
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a device, such as a clip, for keeping something in place
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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
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
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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.
Prego assures customers there’s no reason to get our lids in a twist: The Connection Keeper doesn’t require a Wi-Fi connection or use artificial intelligence.
From Salon • Apr. 27, 2026
David Kang, the CEO and co-founder of Keeper Tax, a tax platform for people with more complicated taxes, has also spotted a change.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026
The post has the caption: "My Brothers Keeper."
From BBC • Jan. 4, 2026
Goal Keeper Robert Montoya had 3 saves in the PK shootout!
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 25, 2025
Ivy even told Keeper about Layla and what a two-faced friend and sister she was.
From "Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World" by Ashley Herring Blake
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.
