housewife
Sometimes Offensive. a married woman who manages her own household, especially as her principal occupation.
British. a sewing box; a small case or box for needles, thread, etc.
Archaic. to manage with efficiency and economy, as a household.
Origin of housewife
1usage note For housewife
Words Nearby housewife
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use housewife in a sentence
As the needs and circumstances of housewives shifted, so too did the recipe format.
No-Recipe Recipes Aren’t a Fad; They’re as Old as Cooking Instruction Itself | Marian Bull | July 14, 2021 | EaterAt the dawn of the VHS boom, she sees potential in teaching a session for fellow housewives to do at home.
Rose Byrne on Unleashing Her Meanest Streak Yet in ‘Physical’: ‘It’s Deeply Uncomfortable’ | Kevin Fallon | June 17, 2021 | The Daily BeastIn the scant three years between her arrest and her execution, this impoverished housewife moved from obscurity to internationally known figure of controversy.
How Today’s World Can Help Us See That There’s More to the Ethel Rosenberg Story | Anne Sebba | June 9, 2021 | TimeA housewife pops some bread into a toaster, and the machine—made by Stark Industries—begins to beep menacingly.
Had it not been for state institutions established by Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, her primary school teacher father and housewife mother would not have been able to send her to university.
The 'Badass Chief of Staff' of Turkey's Opposition Faces Years in Jail After Challenging Erdogan's Power. She's Not Backing Down | Joseph Hincks / Istanbul | February 24, 2021 | Time
Jones, it should be said, is also aces as the unfulfilled housewife (a role she plays very convincingly on Mad Men).
Ethan Hawke's 'Good Kill': A Searing Indictment of America's Drone Warfare Obsession | Marlow Stern | September 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTRight back into that housewife position I was in in the first place.
Julianna Margulies's Favorite 'The Good Wife' Scenes | Julianna Margulies | August 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe simply glanced up at the author of So Big and Show Boat and then wrote “housewife.”
The 37-year-old was raised in a village outside of Kiev by his mother, a housewife, and his father, a construction manager.
On a cool December evening in 2011, an Egyptian housewife woke up screaming in her bed.
More than once that day was the good housewife tempted to send the three visiting Babcocks home, but was too courteous to do so.
Dorothy at Skyrie | Evelyn RaymondAn industrious housewife, she hummed the hymns of contentment and peace from morning till evening.
Madame Roland, Makers of History | John S. C. AbbottCrochet needles should be kept in a housewife similar to those used for ordinary needles.
The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness | Florence HartleyWhen their mother assumed the duties of housewife in Brussels, she surrounded her children with plain, wholesome conditions.
Ways of War and Peace | Delia AustrianThe modern young housewife has a superabundance of spare time.
The Eugenic Marriage, Vol. 3 (of 4) | W. Grant Hague
British Dictionary definitions for housewife
/ (ˈhaʊsˌwaɪf) /
a woman, typically a married woman, who keeps house, usually without having paid employment
Also called: hussy, huswife (ˈhʌzɪf) mainly British a small sewing kit issued to soldiers
Derived forms of housewife
- housewifery (ˈhaʊsˌwɪfərɪ, -ˌwɪfrɪ), noun
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
Browse