WASHERWOMAN • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Washerwoman

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noun

Washerwoman n. (pl. washerwomen)

A woman who washes clothes, especially for hire, or for others.

(Zool.) The pied wagtail; so called in allusion to its beating the water with its tail while tripping along the leaves of water plants. (Prov. Eng.)

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Etymology of 'Washerwoman'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Washerwoman" Quotes from Famous Books

... us as "muy honrado;" not from his last place, but from one before. He was a well-dressed, sad-looking individual; and at the same time we took his wife as washerwoman, and his brother as valet to our attache, thus having the whole family under our roof, wisely taking it for granted that he being recommended as particularly honest, his relations were "all honourable men." An English lady happened to call on me, and a short time after I went to return ...

— Life in Mexico • Frances Calderon De La Barca

... there, so they can't pay frequent visits to the capital. Her brother is the Wen-hsiang, who acts at present as our senior's accountant; but her sister-in-law too is employed in our worthy ancestor's yonder as head washerwoman." ...

— Hung Lou Meng, Book II • Cao Xueqin

... paths and avenues to harmonize with other ground colors was not always tinted. Some one had noticed that the white beach sand at Santa Cruz turned pink when heated. Seizing upon this fact, McLaren and Guerin used it to give a final touch to their scheme of color. They drew another lesson from the washerwoman. A familiar laundry device was used to give sparkle and brilliance to the waters of the pools and lagoons. They were blued, not by dumping indigo into the water, but by tinting ...

— The Jewel City • Ben Macomber

... I think you lost off your coat last night, Larry," smiled Mr. Sparling sweetly. "And, Bad Eye, here's your collar. Better send it to the washerwoman." ...

— The Circus Boys Across The Continent • Edgar B. P. Darlington

... Mr. Winter cried out sharply, "That will do." Immediately one of the assistants seizes the wet canvas, crumples it up without more ado, as if it were dirty linen, and takes it off to a wooden washing trough, where it is kneaded and washed in true washerwoman fashion. Water in plenty is sluiced over it, and after more vigorous manipulation still, it is passed from trough to trough until deemed sufficiently free from soluble salts to tone. The toning—done in the ordinary ...

— Scientific American Supplement, No. 315, January 14, 1882 • Various

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