carline

American  

[kahr-lin, ker-] / ˈkɑr lɪn, ˈkɛr- /

Or carlin

noun

Chiefly Scot.

1. an old woman.

2. a hag; witch.

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carline ¹ British  

/ ˈkɑːlɪn /

noun

1. an old woman, hag, or witch

2. a variant of carling

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carline ² British  

/ ˈkɑːlɪn /

noun

1. Also called: carline thistle.  a Eurasian thistle-like plant, Carlina vulgaris, having spiny leaves and flower heads surrounded by raylike whitish bracts: family Asteraceae (composites)

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Etymology

Origin of carline

1350–1400; Middle English (north) kerling < Old Norse: old woman, equivalent to kerl (mutated variant of karl man) + -ing -ing ¹

Example Sentences

January 27, 2010 2:20 pm Link Mrs. Accillien, where can I drop off my donated goods? — carline 22.

From New York Times • Jan. 27, 2010

Mr. Swett thought that a company of actors would encourage a larger volume of traffic for the carline, and he was right.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then out came running from the hill    The carline old and grey; She cursed the King a thousand times,    And bade him sail away.

From A Bibliography of the writings in Prose and Verse of George Henry Borrow by Wise, Thomas James

They hadna been a week from her, 10 A week but barely three, When word came to the carline wife, That her sons she'd never see.

From English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I (of 8) by Various

At last the carline came to him, and spake softly to him in his ear: "All is free now, Dalesman, come thou!"

From The Sundering Flood by Morris, May