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

See Examples For:

common scold

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

From Time Magazine Archive

But, as always, Khrushchev on tour turned out to be part frolicking peasant, part common scold.

From Time Magazine Archive

Catherine Cairns was arrested as a common scold, clapped in jail to mend her talk.

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

I could do nothing, though I talked till I was no better than a common scold.

From Still Jim by Honoré Morrow