ˈwasherwoman
[f. washer n.1 + woman. Cf. G. wäscherfrau.]
1. a. A woman whose occupation is the washing of dirty linen; one who takes in washing.
| 1632 Sherwood, A washer woman, lauandiere, buandiere. 1674 R. Godfrey Inj. & Ab. Physick 151 A Poor Washer⁓woman. 1757 Foote Author i. Wks. 1799 I. 133 Mrs. Suds, your washer-woman. 1799 Southey Love Elegies i. 25 No washerwoman's filthy hand shall e'er, Sweet pocket-handkerchief! thy worth profane. 1811 Regul. & Orders Army 169 Servants..and Washer-women for each Troop. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxiv, Mrs. Bardell..looked out his linen for the washerwoman when it went abroad. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxxvii, The pertinacity with which the washer⁓woman..brought..her bills week after week. 1877 Tennyson Harold iv. iii, First Thane. Down with William! Third Thane. The washerwoman's brat! |
b. washerwoman's fingers, washerwoman's hand, a condition of the hands, characteristic of cholera, resembling the wrinkling of the skin produced in the hands of washerwomen by the action of soap and soda. washerwoman's itch, washerwoman's scall, a form of eczema incident to the hands of washerwomen; washerwoman's skin, skin that is much wrinkled as a result of immersion in water.
| 1844 Hoblyn Dict. Med., Washerwoman's Scall, Psoriasis lotorum. 1894 Gould Illustr. Dict. Med., Washerwoman's Hand: See Cholera-hand. Washerwoman's Itch or Scall. 1898 P. Manson Trop. Diseases ii. 60 As in cholera, the serous drain may lead to..pinched features, washerwoman's fingers. 1981 C. A. McLaren Twister over Thames iv. 65 In the light of my discoveries, notably from the wrinkled nature of the skin—washerwoman's skin, it is called..Master Thacker had been immersed for about twelve hours before..discovery. 1985 ‘E. McBain’ Snow White & Rose Red v. 73 When a body hadn't been submerged too long..the so-called washerwoman's skin wasn't too bad. |
2. = washer n.1 4 a.
| 1817 Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. X. ii. 546 The Water⁓wagtail, or as it is called in many parts Dish-washer, or Washerwoman. 1832 [see dish-washer]. 1862 Johns Brit. Birds Haunts 171 The popular name Washerwoman belongs to the whole family [of wagtails]. |