# keeper

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkiːpə/ · frequency rank #6,929

## Definitions
1. One who keeps (retains) something.
2. One who remains or keeps in a place or position.
3. A fruit or vegetable that keeps (remains good) for some time without spoiling.
4. A person or thing worth keeping.
5. A person charged with guarding or caring for, storing, or maintaining something; a custodian, a guard; sometimes a gamekeeper.
6. The player charged with guarding a goal or wicket; a goalkeeper or wicketkeeper.
7. At Eton College, a student who is the captain of a sport or an activity such as drama.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. An offensive play in which the quarterback runs toward the goal with the ball after it is snapped.
11. Synonym of armature (“piece of metal connecting the poles of a magnet to preserve its strength by forming a circuit”).

## Etymology
From Middle English kepere. By surface analysis, keep + -er.

## Easily confused with
- **keeps** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/keeper-vs-keeps)
- **Keller** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/keeper-vs-keller)
- **Kiefer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/keeper-vs-kiefer)
- **kemper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/keeper-vs-kemper)
- **kenner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/keeper-vs-kenner)
- **Keepers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/keeper-vs-keepers)
- **keep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/keep-vs-keeper)
- **keene** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/keene-vs-keeper)
- **keeler** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/keeler-vs-keeper)
- **keener** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/keener-vs-keeper)
- **Keeley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/keeley-vs-keeper)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ekeper`, `keeepr`, `keeperr`, `keepper`, `keepre`, `kepeer`, `keper`, `kkeeper`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/keeper