common scold

American  

noun

1. (in early common law) a habitually rude and brawling woman whose conduct was subject to punishment as a public nuisance.

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Etymology

Origin of common scold

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

"He is not to be a common scold," he wrote in an opinion reprinted recently in the Atlantic.

From Time Magazine Archive

What transformed old faithful into a common scold was a series of federal safety regulations.

From Time Magazine Archive

He envisions himself as a kind of public conscience to the profession, and succeeds at least in being its common scold.

From Time Magazine Archive

Casting was geared to turn a prostitute into an angel, to repolish a yaking common scold, or curve hard lips into "the kindly weak smiles of a deserving claimant."

From Time Magazine Archive

It is recorded: "Katherine Saunders, accused by the churchwardens of Saint Andrews for a common scold and slanderer of her neighbours, was adjudged to the ducking-stool."

From Bygone Punishments by Andrews, William