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

On that account we hesitate to compare them to Mother Shipton, who was an old woman, or to Nixon, who was an idiot.

From Punch - Volume 25 (Jul-Dec 1853) by Various

No, no," said the captain; "eloquent dumb show won't do with me; you didn't come, like Mother Shipton, upon a birch broom.

From Varney the Vampire Or the Feast of Blood by Prest, Thomas Preskett

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

From The Great English Short-Story Writers, Volume 1 by Defoe, Daniel

I think I can trace an acquaintance between him and Mother Shipton.

From Dr. Wortle's School by Trollope, Anthony

One of the witnesses recognised her, from her likeness to the portraits of Mother Shipton the sorceress.

From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 450 Volume 18, New Series, August 14, 1852 by Chambers, Robert