Housekeeping
noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The chores of maintaining a house as a residence, especially cleaning. countable, uncountable
"Those who with us would have their own little housekeepings and cooking, have not the means, nor perhaps the taste, for such domestic comfort, and take their victuals at the trattoria, or cook-shop."
- 2 the work of cleaning and running a house wordnet
- 3 The chores of maintaining a house as a residence, especially cleaning.; Those workers of an establishment who maintain a house through cleaning, etc. countable, metonymically, uncountable
- 4 Any general tasks that involve preparation. countable, uncountable
"The computer program does some general housekeeping involving initializing variables and opening files before beginning the main processing."
- 5 Announcements that must be made before a show or event can begin. countable, uncountable
"Thank you all for coming! Just some quick housekeeping before we get underway, the emergency exits are to your left..."
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- 6 Hospitality; a liberal and hospitable table; a supply of provisions. countable, uncountable
""Care not thou about that," said Joliffe; "but tell me, softly and hastily, what is in the pantry?" "Small housekeeping enough," said Phoebe; "a cold capon and some comfits, and the great standing venison pasty, with plenty of spice — a manchet or two besides, and that is all.""
Example
More examples"She was doing the housekeeping."
Etymology
From house + keeping.
Related phrases
More for "housekeeping"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.