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

In the title role, Diana Sands is earth-bound but never God-intoxicated, more of a common scold than an uncommon saint.

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

We gather from a newspaper report that in 1889, the grand jury of Jersey City—across the Hudson River from New York—caused a sensation by indicting Mrs. Mary Brady as a "common scold."

From Bygone Punishments by William Andrews