housekeeping

noun house·keep·ing \ ˈhau̇s-ˌkē-piŋ \

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

Definition of housekeeping

1 : the management of a house and home affairs

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

See housekeeping defined for English-language learners

See housekeeping defined for kids

Examples of housekeeping in a Sentence

We took the computer offline to do some basic housekeeping.

Recent Examples of housekeeping from the Web

In around just two years, Peaker went above and beyond to establish an after-school program, a summer camp, a neighbor-to-neighbor mediation program, housekeeping training and financial literacy programs to assist residents.

— brittany britto, baltimoresun.com, "10 people who make the Baltimore region better: Torrey Smith to Kondwani Fidel," 13 Apr. 2018
Shula’s Hotel is hiring for room attendants, part-time front desk, housekeepers, sales and marketing coordinator, reservations agent, Kids Club attendant and housekeeping porter.

— marcia heroux pounds, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Thousands of jobs available at job fair Wednesday in Miami Lakes," 9 Apr. 2018
Some housekeeping: The Stinger is officially a midsize hatchback sedan, with four doors and a rear liftgate.

— dan neil, WSJ, "2018 Kia Stinger GT2: The Best German Car to Come Out of South Korea," 6 Apr. 2018
Meanwhile on our side, head of housekeeping Aldrich (Ulrich Thomsen) forces Howard Prime out of hiding by leaving his comatose wife, Emily (Olivia Williams), unguarded at the hospital.

— ron gilmer, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Counterpart' Star J.K. Simmons on the Deadly Finale and What's Next," 1 Apr. 2018
Specific services include personal care, housekeeping, transportation, grocery shopping, meal preparation, habilitation, skill development, companionship, and respite care, training, and support for family caregivers.

— grace palmieri, azcentral, "Season for Sharing awards grants to 153 Arizona non-profits," 15 Mar. 2018
Other open positions with the royals include a palace attendant and a senior palace attendant at Buckingham Palace, a housekeeping assistant at Windsor Castle, and an assistant gardener at the Royal Lodge.

— maggie maloney, Town & Country, "The Queen Is Hiring a Royal Chef to Work at Buckingham Palace," 26 Dec. 2017
In fact, Christopher Kane’s spring 2018 collection was full of subversive references to housekeeping and femininity.

— indya brown, The Cut, "Just in Time for Spring Cleaning: The Clutch That Looks Like a Mop," 29 Mar. 2018
Often, phones that offered multi buttons to call a dining outlet or housekeeping merely got forwarded to an operator or front desk clerk.

— nancy trejos, USA TODAY, "Do hotel rooms need landlines?," 22 Mar. 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.

First Known Use of housekeeping

1529

HOUSEKEEPING Defined for English Language Learners

housekeeping

noun

Definition of housekeeping for English Language Learners

: the work (such as cooking and cleaning) that is done in a house
: the things that must be done regularly to keep something working properly

HOUSEKEEPING Defined for Kids

housekeeping

noun house·keep·ing \ ˈhau̇s-ˌkē-piŋ \

Definition of housekeeping for Students

: the care and management of a house or the rooms of a hotel

Learn More about housekeeping

See words that rhyme with housekeeping Spanish Central: Translation of housekeeping Nglish: Translation of housekeeping for Spanish speakers

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housekeeping

Definition of housekeeping

Examples of housekeeping in a Sentence

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First Known Use of housekeeping

HOUSEKEEPING Defined for English Language Learners

housekeeping

Definition of housekeeping for English Language Learners

HOUSEKEEPING Defined for Kids

housekeeping

Definition of housekeeping for Students

Learn More about housekeeping

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Definition of housekeeping

Examples of housekeeping in a Sentence

Recent Examples of housekeeping from the Web

First Known Use of housekeeping

HOUSEKEEPING Defined for English Language Learners

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Definition of housekeeping for English Language Learners

HOUSEKEEPING Defined for Kids

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Definition of housekeeping for Students

Learn More about housekeeping

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