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washerwoman

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

noun

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


washerwoman British  
/ ˈwɒʃəˌwʊmən /

noun

  1. a person who washes clothes for a living

"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

Gender

See -woman.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of washerwoman

First recorded in 1625–35; washer + -woman

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

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

Each morning, Watson wakes from his spot on the floor to clean the house for his washerwoman employer before taking to the streets to sell water.

From Seattle Times Jun. 4, 2017

Growing up in a Rio favela in the 1970s, Ms Assis started working as a nanny when she was just nine, and later found employment as a washerwoman and cleaning lady.

From BBC Apr. 3, 2016

The washerwoman gave him one last glance, picked up her basket, and walked away.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

Naman Ramachandran, author of Rajinikanth: A Definitive Biography, notes that Rajinikanth's fans range from Wall Street bankers to washerwomen in Tamil Nadu.

From BBC Aug. 14, 2025

Jim Downs: Laundresses, washerwomen, cooks, any number of things.

From Scientific American Nov. 2, 2023

In a speech in Atlanta in November, Warren said black washerwomen who led a successful strike in the 1880s for higher wages proved “the women stood together.”

From Washington Post Jan. 19, 2020

Still other women accompanied the army as “camp followers,” serving as cooks, washerwomen, and nurses.

From Textbooks Dec. 30, 2014

“Some dance, some sing, one plays the pipe and one the drums. Good washerwomen too.”

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

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