woman
an adult female person.: Compare man (def. 1), girl (def. 1).
a female employee or representative: A woman from the real estate agency called.
Informal.
a wife.
a female lover or sweetheart.
Older Use:Usually Offensive. a female employee who cleans a house, cooks, etc.; housekeeper.
(in historical use) a female attendant to a lady of rank: Your woman informed us of your travel plans.
the nature, characteristics, or feelings often attributed to women; womanliness: He has always loved and admired the woman in her.
women collectively: Woman is no longer subordinate to man.
to put into the company of a woman.
to equip or staff with women.
Obsolete. to cause to act or yield like a woman.
Idioms about woman
be one's own woman, (of females) to be free from restrictions, control, or dictatorial influence; be independent.
Origin of woman
1synonym study For woman
usage note For woman
Other words from woman
- wom·an·less, adjective
- an·ti·wom·an, adjective
Words that may be confused with woman
- lady, woman (see synonym study at the current entry; see usage note at the current entry)
Words Nearby woman
Other definitions for -woman (2 of 2)
a combining form of woman: chairwoman; forewoman; spokeswoman.
usage note For -woman
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use woman in a sentence
Many women have borne the brunt of care work during the pandemic in ways that impact their work.
Covid-19 widened the gender gap among the world’s top scientists | Katherine Ellen Foley | September 17, 2020 | QuartzI know there are more women who have been employed and minorities than ever before.
Trump, in town hall, says he wouldn’t have done anything differently on pandemic | Colby Itkowitz, Josh Dawsey, Felicia Sonmez, John Wagner | September 16, 2020 | Washington PostMore news below, including Citigroup’s decision to name Jane Fraser its next CEO—the first woman to head a major Wall Street bank.
That article described the woman involved in the encounter with Mallott with sufficient detail to identify her as Jody Potts.
The Woman Propositioned by Alaska’s Former Lieutenant Governor Tells Her Story for the First Time | by Kyle Hopkins and Michelle Theriault Boots, Anchorage Daily News | September 10, 2020 | ProPublicaTwelve of the top 100 films were directed by woman, four times the number of 2007 and more than twice the five films of 2018.
Despite some gains in the past year, Hollywood still has inclusion problems, study says | radmarya | September 10, 2020 | Fortune
A fourth suspect, a 26-year-old woman named Hayat Boumeddiene, remains at large.
In 2009, a Pakistani Christian woman got into a religious argument with some Muslim women with whom she was harvesting berries.
It is the summit of human happiness: the surrender of man to God, of woman to man, of several women to the same man.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President | Pierre Assouline | January 9, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTWhile 19 percent of the House is female, just one woman will get to chair one of its 20 committees.
Instead, the man and woman in the truck wanted to know where the crash site was and whether would I show them.
The 7-Year-Old Plane Crash Survivor’s Brutal Journey Through the Woods | James Higdon | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTShe was also supposed to be the original or model of “the Virtuous woman” therein portrayed!
Solomon and Solomonic Literature | Moncure Daniel ConwayThe aged woman made no reply; her eyes still studied Ramona's face, and she still held her hand.
Ramona | Helen Hunt JacksonThere are three things a wise man will not trust: the wind, the sunshine of an April day, and woman's plighted faith.
Pearls of Thought | Maturin M. BallouI find myself chained to the foot of a woman, my noble Cornelia would despise!
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane Porterwoman is mistress of the art of completely embittering the life of the person on whom she depends.
Pearls of Thought | Maturin M. Ballou
British Dictionary definitions for woman
/ (ˈwʊmən) /
an adult female human being
(modifier) female or feminine: a woman politician; woman talk
women collectively; womankind
the woman feminine nature or feelings: babies bring out the woman in her
a female servant or domestic help
a man considered as having supposed female characteristics, such as meekness or timidity
informal a wife, mistress, or girlfriend
the little woman informal one's wife
woman of the streets a prostitute
rare to provide with women
obsolete to make effeminate
Origin of woman
1Other words from woman
- Related prefixes: gyno-, gynaeco-
Derived forms of woman
- womanless, adjective
- woman-like, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with woman
see feel like oneself (new woman); marked man (woman); (woman) of few words; own person (woman); right-hand man (woman); scarlet woman.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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