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mail-order bride

American  
[meyl-awr-der brahyd] / ˈmeɪlˌɔr dər ˌbraɪd /

noun

  1. a woman who solicits or accepts a contractual marriage arranged by an agency or brokerage after a period of long-distance courtship, traditionally by written correspondence.

Etymology

Origin of mail-order bride

First recorded in 1905–10

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.