CARETAKER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does caretaker mean? 

• CARETAKER (noun)
  The noun CARETAKER has 2 senses:

1. a custodian who is hired to take care of something (property or a person)

2. an official who performs the duties of an office temporarily

  Familiarity information: CARETAKER used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CARETAKER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A custodian who is hired to take care of something (property or a person)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("caretaker" is a kind of...):

custodian; keeper; steward (one having charge of buildings or grounds or animals)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "caretaker"):

concierge (a French caretaker of apartments or a hotel; lives on the premises and oversees people entering and leaving and handles mail and acts as janitor or porter)

sacristan; sexton (an officer of the church who is in charge of sacred objects)

super; superintendent (a caretaker for an apartment house; represents the owner as janitor and rent collector)

verger (a church officer who takes care of the interior of the building and acts as an attendant (carries the verge) during ceremonies)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An official who performs the duties of an office temporarily

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

he acted as a caretaker until a new president could be elected

Hypernyms ("caretaker" is a kind of...):

functionary; official (a worker who holds or is invested with an office)

 Context examples 

There is also a Family Pain Questionnaire that measures the family caretaker's knowledge and experience.

(City of Hope Mayday Pain Resource Center Patient Pain Questionnaire, NCI Thesaurus)

Orchard caretakers told the team that different nutrients and fertilizers were sprayed on the trees before flowering.

(Lychee deaths linked to pesticides, not the fruit, SciDev.Net)

Leo rules toys, as well as nannies and caretakers—you may think of more, too.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The house of thought was closed, its windows boarded up, and he was its shadowy caretaker.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Tobin, the caretaker, was murdered, and the thieves got away with seven thousand pounds.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)