spinster

«spinster» in Mova's school dictionary: a woman who has never married, usually an older one… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (a spinster, spinsters)

meaning for a pupil

1) A spinster is a woman who has never married, usually an older one (old-fashioned). tree →

2) (old use) A spinster was once a woman whose job was spinning thread. tree →

3) In old legal papers spinster was the word for an unmarried woman (law, old). tree →

sense in the lessons

You meet «spinster» in old novels, fairy tales and legal records. Today it can sound unkind, because it was used to mock women who did not marry; people now just say «a single woman» or «unmarried». The male word «bachelor» is still used more freely. Phrases: an old spinster (unkind), spinster aunt.

examples

• In the old story, the spinster lived alone with her cats. tree →
• Great-aunt Molly was a spinster all her life and loved travelling. tree →
• The marriage record called her «spinster» because she had not been married before. tree →
• Long ago spinsters spun wool into thread. tree →
• Calling someone «an old spinster» is rude. tree →
• The book is about two spinster sisters who run a shop. tree →
• “Oh dear, oh dear,” cried Wendy, “I’m sure I sometimes think that spinsters are to be envied.” tree →

note

Countable noun. Old-fashioned and sometimes rude; prefer «single woman». The male partner word is «bachelor», but the two words do not carry the same feeling. It comes from «spin» (spinning thread).

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «spinster» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.