housekeeping

noun

house·keep·ing | \ ˈhau̇s-ˌkē-piŋ

Definition of housekeeping

1a : the management of a house and home affairs … coming home to husbands who won't share in the housekeeping … — The Wilson Quarterly The first defense against insect infestation is good housekeeping (regular vacuuming) to remove eggs and larvae from the fabrics.— Sara J. Wolf

b : the work or activity of cleaning and preparing rooms for customers (as in a hotel) —often used before another noun housekeeping servicestook a housekeeping job at a nearby hotel also : the department or employees responsible for doing such work If you need fresh towels you can call housekeeping.

2 : the care and management of property and the provision of equipment and services (as for an industrial organization)

3 : the routine tasks that must be done in order for a system to function or to function efficiently performing some computer housekeeping by deleting old files

Examples of housekeeping in a Sentence

We took the computer offline to do some basic housekeeping.

Recent Examples on the Web

Take ’80s model star Carol Alt, who bused tables before a breakup prompted a career change, or Halima Aden who was reluctant to give up steady work in housekeeping back home in Minnesota even after booking an international Vogue cover. — Janelle Okwodu, Vogue, "What It’s Really Like to Break Into the Modeling World," 9 Apr. 2019 According to royal expert and biographer Katie Nicholl, Kate's badges included the housekeeping badge, the jester badge, and the toy making badge. — Kayleigh Roberts, Marie Claire, "Kate Middleton Obsessed About Earning Badges in Her Girl Scout Troop as a Kid," 17 Mar. 2019 The suit said three Metropolitan brokers—Maxim Beckman, Simon Itah and Alon Karasenty—handled most of the listings, with Mr. Beckman hiring help to provide housekeeping for the units. — Josh Barbanel, WSJ, "New York Suit Says Airbnb Used in $20 Million Illegal Hotel Scheme," 14 Jan. 2019 Others, like housekeeping and driving for Uber, don’t. — Christopher Mims, WSJ, "This Thriving City—and Many Others—Could Soon Be Disrupted by Robots," 9 Feb. 2019 The apartments typically come with housekeeping and maintenance services, and staff is available to help residents manage their medications, prepare meals, handle household chores and maintain good personal hygiene. 5. — Scott Nordlund, sandiegouniontribune.com, "At a glance: 5 senior housing options," 24 Apr. 2018 According to a paper published in February in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, BHB stimulates memory, learning and the cellular housekeeping process of autophagy in mice. — Mark Barna, Discover Magazine, "Not So Fast," 24 Sep. 2018 Families use the site to hire help with housekeeping, errands, odd jobs, and even pet sitting. — Kelsey Stiegman, Seventeen, "6 Online Jobs for Teens That Pay Major $$$," 29 Nov. 2018 And on the back side of the canvas, several species of Bacillus bacteria had set up housekeeping, apparently feeding on paste and glue. — Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, "What’s eating this 400-year-old painting? A whole ecosystem of microbes," 11 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'housekeeping.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.