keeper

[kee-per] /ˈki pər/
noun
1.
a person who guards or watches, as at a prison or gate.
2.
a person who assumes responsibility for another's behavior:
He refused to be his brother's keeper.
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.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English keper. See keep, -er1
Related forms
keeperless, adjective
keepership, noun
underkeeper, noun
Synonyms
1. warden, jailer. 2. custodian, guardian.
Examples from the web for keeper
  • We can not be the zoo keeper of the planet and that a bird in a gilded cage is still a bird in a cage.
  • Their choice between holding up a shop keeper or killing an endangered animal depends on proximity and ease.
  • But if you then put it back to constant dark or dim light conditions, it immediately reverts to its endogenous time keeper.
  • It involves various aches and pains and requires a pad, tampon, or keeper to prevent any sort of staining on one's clothing.
  • The toll-keeper seemed to be also conscious of the touching and pitiful nature of the occasion.
  • The role you advocate above for the outside reader is that of examiner and gate-keeper.
  • Tina is keeper of the hens, who consider her garden their rightful domain.
  • The late game-keeper of the lord of the manor turned publican.
  • They are playing part in the opposing keeper's waking nightmare.
  • As an obsessive scrapbook journal-keeper, he had been staring his idea in the face.
British Dictionary definitions for keeper

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
keeperless, adjective
keepership, noun
Contemporary definitions for keeper
noun

See trapper

Word Origin and History for keeper
n.

c.1300 (late 13c. as a surname), "one who has charge of some person or thing, warden," agent noun from keep (v.). Sense of "one who carries on some business" is from mid-15c. Sporting sense (originally cricket) is from 1744. Meaning "something (or someone) worth keeping" is attested by 1999. Brother's keeper is from Genesis iv:9.

Slang definitions & phrases for keeper

keeper

noun

Someone or something worth keeping or trying to keep: This husband's a keeper