washerwoman

American  

[wosh-er-woom-uhn, waw-sher-] / ˈwɒʃ ərˌwʊm ən, ˈwɔ ʃər- /

noun

plural

washerwomen

1. a woman who washes clothes, linens, etc., for hire; laundress.

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washerwoman British  

/ ˈwɒʃəˌwʊmən /

noun

1. a person who washes clothes for a living

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Gender

See -woman.

Etymology

Origin of washerwoman

First recorded in 1625–35; washer + -woman

Example Sentences

She works as a washerwoman and says her son suffers from a disability which doesn't allow him to work.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2025

At the foundry, Rhodes-Pitts helped model the form for another bronze, “Last Garment,” being shown in Venice — a washerwoman, bent over and kneading a garment in a reflecting pool.

From New York Times • Apr. 14, 2022

McCarty worked for 75 years as a washerwoman and donated the majority of her life savings to the university after her death in 1999 at the age of 91.

From Washington Times • Oct. 9, 2020

Rigid social and ethnic demarcations begin to bend when the matriarch of a wealthy white family in New Rochelle, N.Y., provides shelter to an African American washerwoman who is scared and alone after giving birth.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 14, 2019

“I am not a washerwoman, Nell. I am not a secretary or a bookkeeper. For your information, I am a detective. In fact, I am the first woman Mr. Pinkerton has ever employed as such.”

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan