keeper
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkiːpə/
ipa: /ˈkiːpɚ/
rhymes: -iːpə(ɹ)
Forms: form: keepers
Etymology: From Middle English kepere, equivalent to keep + -er.
Senses: examples: text: Finders keepers; losers weepers.
glosses: One who keeps (retains) something.
examples: text: discreet; chaste; keepers at home
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Titus 2:5:
text: I was not altogether surprised: they seemed to be, even more than people in the surrounding wolds, stolid keepers-to-themselves, impossible to stir, dourly determined to stick to the firm routine of their lives[…]
ref: 1971, H. R. F. Keating, The Strong Man:
glosses: One who remains or keeps in a place or position.
examples: text: Roxbury Russet: Market and keeper.
ref: c. 1847, Andrew Jackson Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America:
text: And mark you, good keepers are some years bad keepers, as this year; and a hard, heavy, unbruisable Apple that really will keep to late on in the season is doubly valuable.
ref: 1878, Journal of Horticulture and Practical Gardening, volume 35, page 331:
glosses: A fruit or vegetable that keeps (remains good) for some time without spoiling.
examples: text: "Okay, that's a keeper," Harold said as he netted the 3-pounder and put him on a stringer over the side of the boat.
ref: 1970, Field & Stream, volume 75, number 7, page 76:
text: When he brought me home and volunteered to come with me while I walked my dog, Max, I knew he was a keeper.
ref: 2005, Ladies' Home Journal, volume 122, numbers 7-12, page 101:
text: We hadn't dated for long when he said those three magic words: "I'll cook tonight." I knew he was a keeper.
ref: 2008, Jennifer Zomar, A Candle for the Children, page 28:
text: He sucked in a deep breath, then opened his eyes and searched for hers. "So what do you figure? Alternate universe?"
ref: 2023 September 30, HarryBlank, “Meeting in the Middle”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 25 May 2024:
glosses: A person or thing worth keeping.
examples: text: And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 4:9:
text: The inquest on keeper Davidson was duly held, and at the commencement seemed likely to cause Tony Palliser less anxiety than he had expected.
ref: 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 4, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:
glosses: A person charged with guarding or caring for, storing, or maintaining something; a custodian, a guard; sometimes a gamekeeper.
examples: text: England should have capitalised on their growing momentum to win, but Darren Bent failed to reproduce the finishing touches that have brought him goals in three successive appearances. He was blocked by Diego Benaglio when he was played in by Wilshere then blazed over the top of an open goal late on after Young's shot was saved by Switzerland's keeper.
ref: 2011 June 4, Phil McNulty, “England 2 - 2 Switzerland”, in BBC:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: The player charged with guarding a goal or wicket; a goalkeeper or wicketkeeper.
glosses: At Eton College, a student who is the captain of a sport or an activity such as drama.
glosses: A part of a mechanism that catches or retains another part, for example the part of a door lock that fits in the frame and receives the bolt.
examples: text: The all-whalebone crop, braided with gut, pigskin handle, single brown stitched leather keeper, and close[…]
ref: 1912, Minnie McIntyre, Edward E. Wood, Alexander Henry Waddell, Wilfred Jay, Wilfred P. Pond, Bit & Spur, page 39:
text: “When we catch you—” A brief but vivid fantasy of the nose-ringed girl trailing a riding crop's cool leather keeper over her clenched and trembling ass shoved its way eagerly into Fran's imagination. “—we're gonna[…]”
ref: 2022 February 22, Gretchen Felker-Martin, Manhunt, Tor Nightfire, →ISBN:
glosses: A thin, flexible tress or tongue of material (e.g. leather) at the end of a crop opposite the handle, which is broad enough to prevent the horse's skin from being marked as it might be by a whip.
topics: American-football
ball-games
football
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: An offensive play in which the quarterback runs toward the goal with the ball after it is snapped.
examples: text: The continuous lines indicate the moments, when the magnet and keeper of equal diameter (10.5mm) act upon each other […]
ref: 1878, Oluf Andreas Løwold Pihl, On Magnets (page 94)
glosses: Synonym of armature (“piece of metal connecting the poles of a magnet to preserve its strength by forming a circuit”).
synonyms: word: armature
extra: piece of metal connecting the poles of a magnet to preserve its strength by forming a circuit
Derived terms: account-keeper
alehouse keeper
alekeeper
barkeeper
bar-keeper
bathkeeper
beachkeeper
beastkeeper
beekeeper
birdkeeper
boatkeeper
book-keeper
bookkeeper
boxkeeper
bridgekeeper
brothel-keeper
brothelkeeper
bus-keeper
butter keeper
casekeeper
closet-keeper
cowkeeper
crossing keeper
crowkeeper
deer-keeper
divekeeper
doorkeeper
door-keeper
dramshopkeeper
dungeon-keeper
firekeeper
fishkeeper
flamekeeper
forestkeeper
gamekeeper
game keeper
gaolkeeper
gatekeeper
goal keeper
goalkeeper
goatkeeper
gravekeeper
green keeper
greenkeeper
greenskeeper
groundkeeper
groundskeeper
hangarkeeper
harem-keeper
homekeeper
hookkeeper
horsekeeper
hotelkeeper
housekeeper
house keeper
hutkeeper
innkeeper
jailkeeper
keeperess
keeperless
keeper of the flame
keepership
keykeeper
lampkeeper
lettuce keeper
lighthousekeeper
lighthouse keeper
lightkeeper
lionkeeper
lockkeeper
lodgekeeper
menagerie keeper
netkeeper
nit-keeper
parkkeeper
park-keeper
peacekeeper
penkeeper
petkeeper
poundkeeper
pubkeeper
rangekeeper
record keeper
ring-keeper
ringkeeper
riverkeeper
roomkeeper
Sabbath-keeper
salad keeper
saloonkeeper
schoolkeeper
scorekeeper
seal keeper
shanty-keeper
shopkeeper
shop keeper
stablekeeper
stallkeeper
steeple keeper
stockkeeper
storekeeper
sweeper-keeper
switch keeper
tally-keeper
tavernkeeper
time-keeper
timekeeper
tollkeeper
underkeeper
watchkeeper
waterkeeper
wicket-keeper
wicketkeeper
wicket keeper
zookeeper