- a person in charge of animals, esp in a zoo
- a person in charge of a museum, collection, or section of a museum
- a person in charge of other people, such as a warder in a jail
- See goalkeeper, wicketkeeper, gamekeeper
- a person who keeps something
- 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
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
keep•er /ˈkipɚ/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- a person who guards or watches, as a prison warden.
- a person who owns or operates a business, or one who is responsible for the maintenance of something:hotelkeeper; zookeeper.
- a person responsible for the preservation and conservation of something valuable, as a curator at a museum.
keep•er
(kē′pər),USA pronunciation n.
keep′er•less, adj.
keep′er•ship′, n.
- a person who guards or watches, as at a prison or gate.
- a person who assumes responsibility for another's behavior:He refused to be his brother's keeper.
- a person who owns or operates a business (usually used in combination):a hotelkeeper.
- a person who is responsible for the maintenance of something (often used in combination):a zookeeper; a groundskeeper.
- a person charged with responsibility for the preservation and conservation of something valuable, as a curator or game warden.
- a person who conforms to or abides by a requirement:a keeper of his word.
- a fish that is of sufficient size to be caught and retained without violating the law.
- Sport[Football.]a play in which the quarterback retains the ball and runs with it, usually after faking a hand-off or pass.
- something that serves to hold in place, retain, etc., as on a door lock.
- something that lasts well, as a fruit.
- See guard ring.
- Electricityan iron or steel bar placed across the poles of a permanent horseshoe magnet for preserving the strength of the magnet during storage.
- Middle English keper. See keep, -er1 1250–1300
keep′er•ship′, n.
- 1. warden, jailer. 2. custodian, guardian.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
keeper /ˈkiːpə/ n
'time keeper' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):