seamstress

[ seem-stris or, esp. British, sem- ]

/ ˈsim strɪs or, esp. British, ˈsɛm- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR seamstress ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a woman whose occupation is sewing.

RELATED WORDS

tailor, clothier, dressmaker

Nearby words

seami, seamless, seamoth, seamount, seamster, seamstress, seamy, seamy side, sean, seanad éireann, seance

Also sempstress.

Origin of seamstress

First recorded in 1605–15; seamst(e)r + -ess

Usage note

See -ess.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for seamstress

Mavis Lilian Lever was born in Dulwich, south London, on May 5, 1921, the daughter of a postal worker and a seamstress.
Week in Death: The Woman Who Cracked Hitler’s Codes|The Telegraph|November 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Danny, the only child of Su Zhen, a seamstress, and Yan Tao, a chef, lived in public housing on the Lower East Side.
Arrests of Service Men Raises Question of Racism in Soldier's Death|Diane Herbst|December 22, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Her mother was a seamstress and her father drove a delivery truck for Coca-Cola.
Joy Behar's New Point of View|Kevin Sessums|May 12, 2010|DAILY BEAST
The “team of stylists” around her in Minneapolis that Palin describes consisted of Kline, her assistant, and a seamstress.
Palin's Katie Couric Myths|Shushannah Walshe|November 18, 2009|DAILY BEAST

She had a better life of it at the seamstress's in King Street.
Their Majesties' Servants (Volume 2 of 3)|John Doran
To be a seamstress at Madame Michaud's—the odious idea of it!
The Vicissitudes of Bessie Fairfax|Harriet Parr
Yet she hesitated to enter the house while the Hodges were away, even though she felt certain the seamstress would not mind.
Clue of the Silken Ladder|Mildred A. Wirt
Any seamstress who can cut and make an ordinary work shirt can make an adickey if your outfitter cannot supply it.
Packing and Portaging|Dillon Wallace
That's the seamstress who was mentioned to me by a small tenant of mine?
Little Dorrit|Charles Dickens

British Dictionary definitions for seamstress

seamstress

rarely sempstress (ˈsɛmpstrɪs)

/ (ˈsɛmstrɪs) /

noun

a woman who sews and makes clothes, esp professionally

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