KEEPER

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

One having charge of buildings or grounds or animals

Synonyms:

custodian; keeper; steward

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("keeper" is a kind of...):

defender; guardian; protector; shielder (a person who cares for persons or property)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "keeper"):

caretaker (a custodian who is hired to take care of something (property or a person))

conservator; curator (the custodian of a collection (as a museum or library))

game warden; gamekeeper (a person employed to take care of game and wildlife)

greenskeeper (someone responsible for the maintenance of a golf course)

house sitter (a custodian who lives in and cares for a house while the regular occupant is away (usually without an exchange of money))

janitor (someone employed to clean and maintain a building)

lighthouse keeper (the keeper of a lighthouse)

critter sitter; pet sitter (someone left in charge of pets while their owners are away from home)

zoo keeper (the chief person responsible for a zoological garden)

Derivation:

keep (look after; be the keeper of; have charge of)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone in charge of other people

Example:

am I my brother's keeper?

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("keeper" is a kind of...):

defender; guardian; protector; shielder (a person who cares for persons or property)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "keeper"):

baby farmer (someone who runs an establishment that houses and cares for babies for a fee)

baby minder; babyminder; minder (a person who looks after babies (usually in the person's own home) while the babys' parents are working)

baby-sitter; babysitter; sitter (a person engaged to care for children when the parents are not home)

gaoler; jailer; jailor; prison guard; screw; turnkey (someone who guards prisoners)

nanny; nurse; nursemaid (a woman who is the custodian of children)

Derivation:

keep (look after; be the keeper of; have charge of)

Credits

Context examples:

That greeting was, indeed, a frightful outburst of sound, the uproar of the carnivora cage when the step of the bucket-bearing keeper is heard in the distance.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Eventually, some Wolong farmers, though not traditionally horse-keepers, learned from horse-keeping friends who lived outside of the reserve that they too could cash in by keeping horses—and letting them loose to graze unattended in Wolong.

(Belly up to the bamboo buffet: Pandas vs. horses, NSF)

There was no bar-keeper upon whom to call for drinks, no small boy to send around the corner for a can of beer and by means of that social fluid start the amenities of friendship flowing.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

My master alighted at an inn which he used to frequent; and after consulting awhile with the inn-keeper, and making some necessary preparations, he hired the grultrud, or crier, to give notice through the town of a strange creature to be seen at the sign of the Green Eagle, not so big as a splacnuck (an animal in that country very finely shaped, about six feet long,) and in every part of the body resembling a human creature, could speak several words, and perform a hundred diverting tricks.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I says, tyking off my 'at, for a man what trades in wolves, anceterer, is a good friend to keepers.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

One was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Thou villain inn-keeper,” he shouted, “did I not ask you when I brought my lady here whether your inn was clean?”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Tom Owen and his assistant, Fogo, with the help of the ring-keepers, plucked up the stakes and ropes, and carried them off across country.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“How much did the other mug get?” the saloon-keeper demanded.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

“Head-keeper Hudson, we believe, has been now told to receive all orders for fly-paper and for preservation of your hen-pheasant’s life.”