laundress

American  

[lawn-dris, lahn-] / ˈlɔn drɪs, ˈlɑn- /

noun

1. a woman whose work is the washing and ironing of clothes, linens, etc.

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laundress British  

/ ˈlɔːndrɪs /

noun

1. a woman who launders clothes, sheets, etc, for a living

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Gender

See -ess.

Other Word Forms

• underlaundress
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of laundress

1540–50; obsolete launder launderer ( see launder) + -ess

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

laundress

Ethel Waters in 1949 became the second Black performer to score an Oscar nomination as an illiterate Southern laundress in “Pinky.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2024

When the rain finally returned earlier this year, Ms. Vaolina — the farmer turned laundress — joined the other climate refugees in the refugee camp as they danced in the rain.

From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2022

Reid was born Dec. 2, 1939, the son of an alcoholic hard-rock miner who killed himself at 58 and a mother who served as a laundress in a bordello.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 28, 2021

What is the difference between an honest and a dishonest laundress?

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2021

So may a laundress washing the clothing of such victims, which may have absorbed enough parathion to affect her.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

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