steward
Americannoun
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stewards
plural
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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)
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stewards,
present (3rd person singular)
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stewarded,
past participle, past
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stewarding
present participle
verb (used without object)
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stewards,
present (3rd person singular)
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stewarded,
past participle, past
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stewarding
present participle
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
-
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:
Sarah Prescott, the club's steward, described the evening as "overwhelming and unbelievable", thanking Jones for choosing the club to host the event.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
She met her partner Pete, a steward, at work, but soon after she began experiencing severe migraines and sought medical help.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Followers trust her to steward beloved images, and when I got up the courage to submit a picture, I sent a black-and-white studio portrait of my green-eyed grandmother Esperanza, a Mexican immigrant from Guadalajara, Jalisco.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
“The Moreno Family has been honored to steward the Angels for 23 years,” the ex-Angels owner said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
It was during his third visit to Port Harcourt that the steward knocked on the bedroom door to announce, “Major Madu came, madam,” and Kainene asked if Richard would please come down with her.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“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
Freeholders argue that they act as "stewards" of buildings.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
He was even more surprised at how familiarly Major Madu behaved, the way he sank into the sofa, got up to flip the album in the stereo, joked with the stewards serving dinner.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“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
By contrast, parks owned and operated by tribes are better stewarded.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
Much the same as the teams stewarded by the man he's just surpassed, the late Craig Brown.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2025
One success story of loko i'a restoration is the He'eia Fishpond, located in Windward O'ahu and stewarded by Native Hawaiian nonprofit, Paepae o He'eia.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 26, 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 Cornelia Stratton Parker
And we need to fall into line in “removing regulatory barriers that hinder U.S. technological and economic leadership while responsibly stewarding coastal resources.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
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
"He's had 80 years of stewarding and looking after Shuna and trying to get all sorts of businesses going and has absolutely loved it the whole of his life," Mr Gully said.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2025
He added that increased investment in stewarding and crowd management was "now essential to allow the police to focus on their primary role of crime prevention and public protection".
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 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 Charles Dickens
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.
