Mother Shipton

British  

/ ˈʃɪptən /

noun

1. a day-flying noctuid moth, Callistege mi, mottled brown in colour and named from a fancied resemblance between its darker marking and a haggish profile

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Etymology

Origin of Mother Shipton

named after Mother Shipton, a legendary prophetess in 15th-century Yorkshire

Example Sentences

When the body of Mother Shipton had been committed to the snow, Mr. Oakhurst took the Innocent aside, and showed him a pair of snowshoes, which he had fashioned from the old pack- saddle.

From Short Stories for English Courses by Mikels, Rosa Mary Redding

Old Mother Shipton has been writing such a letter to our old woman, and explaining that no boy's soul would any longer be worth looking after if he be left in your hands.

From Dr. Wortle's School by Trollope, Anthony

My dear Talbot,—You may be quite sure that I shall not repeat to any one what you have told me of Mother Shipton.

From Dr. Wortle's School by Trollope, Anthony

Two other boys had also been summoned away, making five in all, whose premature departure was owing altogether to the virulent tongue of that wretched old Mother Shipton.

From Dr. Wortle's School by Trollope, Anthony

Amongst other English prophets, a belief in whose power has not been entirely effaced by the light of advancing knowledge, is Robert Nixon, the Cheshire idiot, a contemporary of Mother Shipton.

From Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions — Volume 1 by Mackay, Charles