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
The commission’s recommendations, originally pitched by Commissioner Dan Kalmick, are tucked into housekeeping amendments to the city’s general plan. — Priscella Vega, Daily Pilot, "Huntington Beach council to consider new police contract," 17 Aug. 2019 Daily meal provisions and housekeeping services also ranked. — Houston Chronicle, "Why are more people choosing retirement communities today?," 16 Aug. 2019 The safety, facilities and maintenance, and housekeeping departments will also be hiring. — Laura Groch, San Diego Union-Tribune, "North County Business Briefs, Aug. 15," 15 Aug. 2019 Community Day will feature awards and signage presented for both best dorm and best barn housekeeping, as well as a barbecue, raffles, prizes and giveaways. — Baltimore Sun Staff, baltimoresun.com, "Coppin State sprinter Joseph Amoah victorious at Aliann Pompey Invitational," 8 July 2019 Save some pounds for hotel staff who help with luggage, and for housekeeping. — Leena Kim, Town & Country, "The Right Way to Tip All Over the World," 22 May 2019 The positions are in operations, housekeeping, security, set up, and guest services, said SMG, which manages the complex. — Karen Farkas, cleveland.com, "Job fair at Huntington Convention Center and Global Center on May 14," 9 May 2018 The Clara de was amazingly affordable for the times: $50 a month included a hot breakfast daily, full kitchen privileges, a private or shared room with linens and housekeeping and dormlike hallway bathrooms. — New York Times, "‘We Began to Look Frantically for Something Resembling a Hospital’," 28 July 2019 Day-to-day tasks such as inside and outside maintenance, housekeeping and transportation are all handled by the caring and competent staff. — Houston Chronicle, "Parkway Place: Independence is an aspiration," 19 July 2019These 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.
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More Definitions for housekeeping
housekeeping
noun
English Language Learners Definition of housekeeping
: 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
See the full definition for housekeeping in the English Language Learners Dictionary
housekeeping
noun
house·keep·ing
| \ ˈhau̇s-ˌkē-piŋ\
Kids Definition of housekeeping
: the care and management of a house or the rooms of a hotel