wife
a married woman, especially when considered in relation to her partner in marriage.
a woman (archaic or dial., except in idioms): old wives' tale.
Idioms about wife
take to wife, to marry (a particular woman): He took an heiress to wife.
Origin of wife
1Other words from wife
- wifedom, noun
- wifeless, adjective
- wife·less·ness, noun
Words Nearby wife
Other definitions for -wife (2 of 2)
a combining form of wife, now unproductive, occurring in compound words that in general designate traditional roles or occupations of women: fishwife; goodwife; housewife; midwife.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use wife in a sentence
Number one, the wife of a venture capitalist is a multimillionaire.
‘How I Built This’ host Guy Raz on insights from some of the world’s most famous entrepreneurs | Rachel King | September 15, 2020 | FortuneLike any cash-poor landowner, Lister decides that she needs a rich wife and sets her sights on Ann Walker, a local heiress who’s been dazzled by Lister’s charisma for years.
FROM THE VAULTS: The opposite of binge-watching | Brian T. Carney | September 4, 2020 | Washington BladeI don’t think it’s something that most people are voluntarily doing or are interested in doing, but it took us a long time to track down the wives that we did, and we’re fairly confident that when the show drops, more will come out.
“People want to believe”: How Love Fraud builds an absorbing docuseries around a romantic con man | Alissa Wilkinson | September 4, 2020 | VoxThe morning after we were evacuated, I left my wife, Jenny, and our two daughters, who are 15 and 17, in Santa Cruz and went back to my house in Bonny Doon with my friend Josh.
My wife and I understood and challenged our hidden biases when our children introduced us to friends who were different from them.
We won’t have a true economic recovery until we tackle the racial wealth gap | matthewheimer | September 1, 2020 | Fortune
In straight relationships with an age gap, words like ‘gold-digger’ and ‘trophy wife’ get thrown around.
Freaking Out About Age Gaps in Gay Relationships Is Homophobic | Samantha Allen | January 9, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTHis wife passed away and they had kids, and he wanted to focus on being a dad so he just stopped to raise his kids.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness | Marlow Stern | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThe band was still on its way back as De Blasio and his wife departed.
Except for maybe his brainiac wife… but she could do better anyway.
All Your Internet Boyfriends Are Taken: Gosling, Cumberbatch, and now Joseph Gordon-Levitt | Melissa Leon | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTSo when my wife and I moved to Laurel Canyon I spent my first year working night and day on the show.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile | Robert Ward | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTBut Mrs. Dodd, the present vicar's wife, retained the precious prerogative of choosing the book to be read at the monthly Dorcas.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsAnd that was that if he and his wife were to ever live together again and be happy, the family were to be kept out of it.
The Homesteader | Oscar MicheauxHis wife stood smiling and waving, the boys shouting, as he disappeared in the old rockaway down the sandy road.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate ChopinTo Harrison and his wife there was no distinction between the executive and judicial branches of the law.
The Bondboy | George W. (George Washington) OgdenThe Authorised Version has: “And as a mother shall she meet him, and receive him as a wife married of a virgin.”
Solomon and Solomonic Literature | Moncure Daniel Conway
British Dictionary definitions for wife
/ (waɪf) /
a man's partner in marriage; a married woman: Related adjective: uxorial
an archaic or dialect word for woman
take to wife to marry (a woman)
Origin of wife
1Derived forms of wife
- wifehood, noun
- wifeless, adjective
- wifelike, adjective
- wifeliness, noun
- wifely, adjective
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with wife
see under wives.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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