housekeeping
noun
house·keep·ing
ˈhau̇s-ˌkē-piŋ 
1
a
: the management of a house and home affairs
… coming home to husbands who won't share in the housekeeping …—
The Wilson Quarterly
The Wilson QuarterlyThe first defense against insect infestation is good housekeeping (regular vacuuming) to remove eggs and larvae from the fabrics.—Sara J. Wolf
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 services
took 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
Mercury’s entrance to analytical Virgo inspires you to do some overdue financial housekeeping.
—USA TODAY, 9 Sep. 2024
During the pandemic, many hotels stopped offering daily room cleaning, or only do it on request—something housekeeping staff said makes end-of-stay cleaning more difficult.
—Megan Poinski, Forbes, 3 Sep. 2024
Eco-friendly hotels increasingly are asking guests to forgo daily housekeeping or use their towels more than once.
—Farhad Tabatabaei, The Conversation, 13 Aug. 2024
Many hotels nationwide have kept coronavirus-era cuts in place, such as understaffing; ending automatic, daily housekeeping; and removing food and beverage options.
—Lorraine Mirabella, Baltimore Sun, 12 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for housekeeping 
USA TODAY, 9 Sep. 2024
During the pandemic, many hotels stopped offering daily room cleaning, or only do it on request—something housekeeping staff said makes end-of-stay cleaning more difficult.
—Megan Poinski, Forbes, 3 Sep. 2024
Eco-friendly hotels increasingly are asking guests to forgo daily housekeeping or use their towels more than once.
—Farhad Tabatabaei, The Conversation, 13 Aug. 2024
Many hotels nationwide have kept coronavirus-era cuts in place, such as understaffing; ending automatic, daily housekeeping; and removing food and beverage options.
—Lorraine Mirabella, Baltimore Sun, 12 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for housekeeping
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'housekeeping.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near housekeeping
Cite this Entry
“Housekeeping.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/housekeeping. Accessed 30 Sep. 2024.
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