Housekeeping
ˈhaʊskiːpɪŋ
Definitions
2 meaningsThe care and management of a household or a business.
ˈhaʊskiːpɪŋ
The management of a house and its affairs.
The new homeowner quickly learned the basics of housekeeping.
💡 Simply: It's like the job of making your house a nice place to live. This includes things like cleaning, organizing, and making sure everything is working okay. Like, when you clean your room, that's a kind of housekeeping!
👶 For kids: Taking care of a house to make it clean and tidy.
More Examples
Regular housekeeping is essential for maintaining a healthy living environment.
The hotel's housekeeping services were consistently praised by guests.
How It's Used
"She hired someone to take care of the housekeeping while she was away."
"The hotel housekeeping staff ensures rooms are clean and tidy for guests."
The act of cleaning, maintaining, and organizing a house, room, or other space.
ˈhaʊskiːpɪŋ
Cleaning and maintenance activities.
The company's data housekeeping procedures improved data quality.
💡 Simply: It's like the work of cleaning and taking care of a house or building. For example, emptying the trash and making the bed are housekeeping chores.
👶 For kids: Making sure a place is clean and tidy.
More Examples
The housekeeping staff cleaned the lobby thoroughly.
He spent the morning doing some housekeeping around the apartment.
How It's Used
"The housekeeping department ensures that the guest rooms are cleaned every day."
"Data housekeeping includes tasks like data cleaning and organization."
Idioms & expressions
housekeeping department
The department in a hotel or similar establishment responsible for cleaning and maintaining rooms and public areas.
"She applied for a job in the housekeeping department of the hotel."
From 'house' (Old English hūs) + 'keeping' (present participle of keep), referring to the activities involved in managing a household.
Historically, the term has always referred to managing a household, with the meaning extending to include business and organizational management in more recent times.
Memory tip
Think of all the tasks that keep a house running smoothly: cleaning, organizing, and managing.
Practice
Word Origin
Root: hūs (house) + cēping (keeping)