wench
part of speech
noun (a wench, wenches)
meaning for a pupil
1) (old) A wench was a girl or young woman, especially a servant girl or a country girl. tree →
2) (now insulting) Today the word is old-fashioned and often rude when said to a woman. tree →
sense in the lessons
Found in old stories, ballads, plays and historical tales: «a serving wench at the inn». It tells the reader the story is set long ago. In The Wind in the Willows and similar books the word belongs to an older, rougher kind of speech. Today you should not call anyone a wench.
examples
- The serving wench brought ale to the travellers. tree →
- In the old ballad, a country wench milked the cows. tree →
- The pirate shouted for the kitchen wench. tree →
- The play is set in a tavern with a busy wench. tree →
- «Wench» is an old word you meet in historical stories. tree →
- Calling a woman a wench today is rude. tree →
- ‘The cinder wench is not here,’ said the Prince at last; ‘go and fetch her, and let her try on the things.’ tree →
note
Countable: wenches. Old-fashioned and disrespectful now; use it only when reading or quoting old texts.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «wench» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.