Mother Hubbard

[ huhb-erd ]

/ ˈhʌb ərd /

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noun

a full, loose gown, usually fitted at the shoulders, worn by women.

a character in a nursery rhyme.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Words nearby Mother Hubbard

Mother Goose, Mother Goose rhymes, mother hen, motherhood, mother house, Mother Hubbard, mothering, Mothering Sunday, mother-in-law, mother-in-law's tongue, motherland

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Mother Hubbard in a sentence

Taraji manages to bring an equal measure of truth to the mother in her character.
‘Empire’ Review: Hip-Hop Musical Chairs with an Insane Soap Opera Twist|Judnick Mayard|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Three on-the-record stories from a family: a mother and her daughters who came from Phoenix.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But my sources, my young women and their mother, heroically held firm.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I thought about the mother, her fear of the dark, of the harm she feared might come to her daughters.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Meanwhile two kids were taken from their mother when she flew back to the UK from Turkey.
Britain May Spy on Preschoolers Searching for Potential Jihadis|Nico Hines|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There was no doubt thought of his own loss in this question: yet there was, one may hope, a germ of solicitude for the mother too.
Children's Ways|James Sully
"The Smoker," and "Mother and Daughter," a triptych, are two of her principal pictures.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
Now first we shall want our pupil to understand, speak, read and write the mother tongue well.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
The mother's lips could not finish the charge she was about to put upon her innocent child.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
The Authorised Version has: “And as a mother shall she meet him, and receive him as a wife married of a virgin.”
Solomon and Solomonic Literature|Moncure Daniel Conway

British Dictionary definitions for Mother Hubbard

Mother Hubbard

/ (ˈhʌbəd) /

noun

(sometimes not capitals) a woman's full-length unbelted dress

Word Origin for Mother Hubbard

C19: after Mother Hubbard, a character in a nursery rhyme

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