keeper

[ kee-per ]

noun

1. a person who guards or watches, as at a prison or gate.

   Synonyms: jailer, warden

2. a person who assumes responsibility for another's behavior:

   He refused to be his brother's keeper.

   Synonyms: guardian, custodian

3. a person who owns or operates a business (usually used in combination):

   a hotelkeeper.

4. a person who is responsible for the maintenance of something (often used in combination):

   a zookeeper; a groundskeeper.

5. a person charged with responsibility for the preservation and conservation of something valuable, as a curator or game warden.
6. a person who conforms to or abides by a requirement:

   a keeper of his word.

7. a fish that is of sufficient size to be caught and retained without violating the law.
8. Football. a play in which the quarterback retains the ball and runs with it, usually after faking a hand-off or pass.
9. something that serves to hold in place, retain, etc., as on a door lock.
10. something that lasts well, as a fruit.
11. guard ring.
12. an iron or steel bar placed across the poles of a permanent horseshoe magnet for preserving the strength of the magnet during storage.

keeper

/ ˈkiːpə /

noun

1. a person in charge of animals, esp in a zoo
2. a person in charge of a museum, collection, or section of a museum
3. a person in charge of other people, such as a warder in a jail
4. See goalkeeper wicketkeeper gamekeeper
5. a person who keeps something
6. a device, such as a clip, for keeping something in place
7. 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

• ˈkeeperˌship, noun
• ˈkeeperless, adjective

Other Words From

• keeper·less adjective
• keeper·ship noun
• under·keeper noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of keeper¹

First recorded in 1250–1300, keeper is from the Middle English word keper. See keep, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Now, the goalkeeper is out with a memoir about his life until that point: The Keeper: A Life of Saving Goals and Achieving Them.

From The Daily Beast

This Oath Keeper was there for the protest, which had yet to materialize, and had a few friends joining him, he told me.

From The Daily Beast

Rudder seems content to play the record keeper and let the philosophers sort out the sigificance.

From The 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.

From The Daily Beast

In a lot of ways, that's what My Brother's Keeper is all about, and why it's so important.

From The Daily Beast

Before he could finish the sentence the Hole-keeper said snappishly, "Well, drop out again—quick!"

From Project Gutenberg

About her neck was hung a covered basket and a door-key; and Davy at once concluded that she was Sindbad's house-keeper.

From Project Gutenberg

Presently the Hole-keeper stopped short and said, faintly, "It strikes me the sun is very hot here."

From Project Gutenberg

"They're great pink birds, without any feathers on 'em," replied the Hole-keeper, solemnly.

From Project Gutenberg

In the wall were eight gates, and at each one a keeper was stationed at all hours of the day and night.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• attendant
• caretaker
• curator
• custodian
• defender