steward
Americannoun
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a person who manages another's property or financial affairs; one who administers anything as the agent of another or others.
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a person who has charge of the household of another, buying or obtaining food, directing the servants, etc.
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an employee who has charge of the table, wine, servants, etc., in a club, restaurant, or the like.
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a person who attends to the domestic concerns of persons on board a vessel, as in overseeing maids and waiters.
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an employee on a ship, train, or bus who waits on and is responsible for the comfort of passengers, takes orders for or distributes food, etc.
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a flight attendant.
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a person appointed by an organization or group to supervise the affairs of that group at certain functions.
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U.S. Navy. a petty officer in charge of officer's quarters and mess.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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a person who administers the property, house, finances, etc, of another
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a person who manages the eating arrangements, staff, or service at a club, hotel, etc
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a person who attends to passengers on an aircraft, ship or train
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a mess attendant in a naval mess afloat or ashore
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a person who helps to supervise some event or proceedings in an official capacity
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short for shop steward
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stewardsimple
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stewardssimple
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have stewardedperfect
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has stewardedperfect
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am stewardingprogressive
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are stewardingprogressive
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is stewardingprogressive
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have been stewardingperfect progressive
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has been stewardingperfect progressive
Past
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stewardedsimple
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had stewardedperfect
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was stewardingprogressive
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were stewardingprogressive
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had been stewardingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of steward
before 900; Middle English; Old English stīweard, stigweard, equivalent to stig- (sense uncertain; probably “house, hall”; see sty 1) + weard ward ( def. )
Explanation
A steward is someone who takes care of the grounds or animals of a particular place. If your parents are always traveling and you have to take care of your six younger siblings, you probably feel like the steward of the house. You might have heard the term "stewardess," a female flight attendant, but the name has trickled out of use in favor of the gender-neutral "flight attendant." A steward is the male version of that. Anyone who takes care of places or people is a steward. You can be a steward of artifacts from an architectural dig. You can also be elected to be the steward of your co-workers retirement fund. Either way, someone's trusting you with their stuff.
Vocabulary lists containing steward
This Week in Words: October 28 - November 3, 2017
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"Why Exploring the Ocean Is Mankind's Next Giant Leap," Vocabulary from the commentary
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Theodore Roosevelt on "New Nationalism" (1910)
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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.
See Examples For:
De la Espriella would be an unusual steward to beat back gangs and root out corruption, as he’s promised to do with the help of the Trump administration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
Now, they are offering the compound up to a new steward, listing the property for $9.88 million, according to records.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026
He showed up 23 years ago as the lovably grounded steward of one of baseball’s soaring sports franchises.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026
Maureen Trott is a farmer and chief livestock steward at the Bath and West Society and works on the helpline for the charity, Farming Community Network, which works to support farmers and their families.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
The steward walked easily into the fray of scurrying servers, and Ivan started after him.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
The stewards ruled that Piastri was not far enough alongside the Ferrari to be entitled to the same treatment as Russell.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
“We want to be able to be responsible stewards of this precious resource, but also make sure that the patient gets the the best treatment.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
"Our seas are not an empty void or a buffer zone between global powers -- they are our estate, our livelihood, and our identity as stewards of the sea."
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Nationwide protests by shop stewards and works council members across the Volkswagen Group took place Thursday against reported plant closures and job cuts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
With the jockeys’ efforts widely perceived as the formation of a union against stewards, owners, and trainers, Pollard feared that he might offend the Howards by crossing the street and walking into the golf club.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
“Lovingly stewarded by the same family for nearly 70 years, this grand residence has been thoughtfully updated and modernized in preparation for the next chapter in its illustrious history.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 14, 2026
The 54-year-old has stewarded projects including adding new developments at the parks such as World of Frozen and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026
By contrast, parks owned and operated by tribes are better stewarded.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
This park, and all of Nunavut, is Inuit Nunangat -- Inuit homeland in Canada -- and the park protects sites and biodiversity stewarded by Inuit since time immemorial.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2024
When we closed up at nine he went to some other part of the hotel and stewarded.
From Working With the Working Woman by Parker, Cornelia Stratton
But stewarding that authority demands humility and faith in the university’s distinct role in cultivating debate—neither proscribing questions nor prescribing answers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
When Lee brings everything home with a message about creating real art from the heart and the responsibility of stewarding Black culture, it’s a bit too late to take it seriously.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2025
Mr Comfort said that while the GLA and the two councils had provided "substantial support" for stewarding during past festivals, they could no longer "meet the growing operational requirements identified in the review".
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2025
The ocean is a globally shared resource, and stewarding the deep sea may be society’s last chance to protect the remaining virgin Earth.
From Salon ● May 21, 2025
And as for stewarding, I think it's time my brother gave that up, and took his House in hand on his sister's retiring.
From Our Mutual Friend by Dickens, Charles
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.
