washerwoman

«washerwoman» in Mova's school dictionary: A woman whose job, in the past, was washing other… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a washerwoman, washerwomen)

meaning for a pupil

1) A woman whose job, in the past, was washing other people's clothes and sheets by hand, for money. tree →

2) In The Wind in the Willows, Toad escapes from prison disguised as a washerwoman, wearing the gaoler's daughter's aunt's cotton dress, shawl and bonnet. tree →

sense in the lessons

Before washing machines, washing clothes was hard work: water was heated, clothes were scrubbed on a washboard, wrung through a mangle and hung to dry. Poorer women did this for richer families. In history lessons the word shows how people lived and worked in Victorian and Edwardian times. In the story, the disguise is funny because proud Toad has to pretend to be a hard-working woman, and he fails when a barge-woman asks him to wash her clothes and he cannot.

examples

• The washerwoman carried a big basket of sheets down to the river. tree →
• Toad dressed up as a washerwoman to get out of the prison. tree →
• The washerwoman's hands were red from the hot water and soap. tree →
• In Victorian times, many poor women worked as washerwomen. tree →
• The barge-woman laughed when she saw that the washerwoman could not wash a single shirt. tree →
• The gaoler's daughter's aunt was a washerwoman. tree →
• Old pictures show a washerwoman scrubbing clothes on a washboard. tree →
• The old washerwoman put her head in at the door, and nodded to him quite kindly, and said, "Many thanks, you good child, for your help yesterday. tree →

note

Plural is washerwomen (like woman — women). It is an old-fashioned word; today we say a laundry worker or use a laundry or laundrette. Do not mix it up with a washing machine.

In the corpora

• Toad of Toad Hall, going about the country disguised as a washerwoman!»
• Toad confesses: «I am not the simple washerwoman I seem to be!
• A fox says: «Hullo, washerwoman!
• They think he is a poor old washerwoman who has fainted from the heat, and kindly lift him into the car.
• I like your spirit.» Toad starts slowly and carefully, and the gentlemen clap: fancy a washerwoman driving so well!

Trees and pragmatics

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