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WOMAN
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Women as a class
Example:
the fair sex gathered on the veranda
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("woman" is a kind of...):
class; social class; socio-economic class; stratum (people having the same social, economic, or educational status)
Holonyms ("woman" is a member of...):
womankind (women as distinguished from men)
Derivation:
womanhood (the status of a woman)
womanhood (the state of being an adult woman)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A human female employed to do housework
Example:
I have a woman who comes in four hours a day while I write
Synonyms:
char; charwoman; cleaning lady; cleaning woman; woman
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("woman" is a kind of...):
cleaner (someone whose occupation is cleaning)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An adult female person (as opposed to a man)
Example:
the woman kept house while the man hunted
Synonyms:
adult female; woman
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("woman" is a kind of...):
adult; grownup (a fully developed person from maturity onward)
female; female person (a person who belongs to the sex that can have babies)
Meronyms (parts of "woman"):
adult female body; woman's body (the body of an adult woman)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "woman"):
heroine (a woman possessing heroic qualities or a woman who has performed heroic deeds)
inamorata (a woman with whom you are in love or have an intimate relationship)
jezebel (a shameless impudent scheming woman)
jilt (a woman who jilts a lover)
lady (a polite name for any woman)
maenad (an unnaturally frenzied or distraught woman)
materfamilias; matriarch (a female head of a family or tribe)
matriarch (a feisty older woman with a big bosom (as drawn in cartoons))
matron (a woman in charge of nursing in a medical institution)
mestiza (a woman of mixed racial ancestry (especially mixed European and Native American ancestry))
fancy woman; kept woman; mistress (an adulterous woman; a woman who has an ongoing extramarital sexual relationship with a man)
mother figure (a woman who evokes the feelings usually reserved for a mother)
nanny; nurse; nursemaid (a woman who is the custodian of children)
nullipara ((obstetrics) a woman who has never give birth to a child)
houri; nymph (a voluptuously beautiful young woman)
nymphet (a sexually attractive young woman)
old woman (a woman who is old)
bawd; cocotte; cyprian; fancy woman; harlot; lady of pleasure; prostitute; sporting lady; tart; whore; woman of the street; working girl (a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money)
shiksa; shikse (a derogatory term used by Jews to refer to non-Jewish women)
beauty; dish; knockout; looker; lulu; mantrap; peach; ravisher; smasher; stunner; sweetheart (a very attractive or seductive looking woman)
sylph (a slender graceful young woman)
unmarried woman (a woman who is not married)
vestal (a chaste woman)
Wac (a member of the Women's Army Corps)
Wave (a member of the women's reserve of the United States Navy; originally organized during World War II but now no longer a separate branch)
widow; widow woman (a woman whose husband is dead especially one who has not remarried)
married woman; wife (a married woman; a man's partner in marriage)
wonder woman (a woman who can be a successful wife and have a professional career at the same time)
white woman (a woman who is White)
amazon; virago (a large strong and aggressive woman)
maenad ((Greek mythology) a woman participant in the orgiastic rites of Dionysus)
bachelor girl; bachelorette (a young unmarried woman who lives alone)
baggage (a worthless or immoral woman)
ball-breaker; ball-buster (a demanding woman who destroys men's confidence)
B-girl; bar girl (a woman employed by a bar to act as a companion to men customers)
bas bleu; bluestocking (a woman having literary or intellectual interests)
bridesmaid; maid of honor (an unmarried woman who attends the bride at a wedding)
broad (slang term for a woman)
cat (a spiteful woman gossip)
Cinderella (a woman whose merits were not been recognized but who then achieves sudden success and recognition)
coquette; flirt; minx; prickteaser; tease; vamp; vamper (a seductive woman who uses her sex appeal to exploit men)
dame; gentlewoman; lady; ma'am; madam (a woman of refinement)
deb; debutante (a young woman making her debut into society)
divorcee; grass widow (a divorced woman or a woman who is separated from her husband)
ex; ex-wife (a woman who was formerly a particular man's wife)
dominatrix (a dominating woman (especially one who plays that role in a sadomasochistic sexual relationship))
donna (an Italian woman of rank)
Delilah; enchantress; femme fatale; siren; temptress (a woman who is considered to be dangerously seductive)
eyeful (a strikingly beautiful woman)
geisha; geisha girl (a Japanese woman trained to entertain men with conversation and singing and dancing)
fille; girl; miss; missy; young lady; young woman (a young female)
girl (a friendly informal reference to a grown woman)
girl; girlfriend; lady friend (a girl or young woman with whom a man is romantically involved)
girlfriend (any female friend)
gold digger (a woman who associates with or marries a rich man in order to get valuables from him through gifts or a divorce settlement)
gravida (a pregnant woman)
Instance hyponyms:
Eve ((Old Testament) Adam's wife in Judeo-Christian mythology: the first woman and mother of the human race; God created Eve from Adam's rib and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden)
Antonym:
man (an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman))
Derivation:
womanhood (the status of a woman)
womanhood (women as a class)
womanhood (the state of being an adult woman)
womanise (have amorous affairs; of men)
womanize (to give a (more) feminine, effeminate, or womanly quality or appearance to)
womanly (befitting or characteristic of a woman especially a mature woman)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A female person who plays a significant role (wife or mistress or girlfriend) in the life of a particular man
Example:
he was faithful to his woman
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("woman" is a kind of...):
female; female person (a person who belongs to the sex that can have babies)
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Antonym:
man (a male person who plays a significant role (husband or lover or boyfriend) in the life of a particular woman)
Derivation:
womanise; womanize (have amorous affairs; of men)
Context examples:
She has the age and sense of a woman, but the outs and not outs are beyond me.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Venus also has an association with money and especially with products marketed to women.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
"There is nothing to be done," said the little woman calmly.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
I am a quiet woman and live a retired life.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
And when all was done, I gave up like a woman and rolled upon the deck in the agony of exhaustion.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Children born to women who have high blood levels of lead are more likely be overweight or obese, compared to those whose mothers have low levels of lead in their blood.
(New study suggests high lead levels during pregnancy linked to child obesity, National Institutes of Health)
And yet, my dear, let me whisper, I felt a thrill of joy through me when I knew that no other woman was a cause of trouble.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
And why is it that you and your old woman are without meat at the end of your years?
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
There were once a man and a woman who had long in vain wished for a child.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Now, what did you gather from that woman’s appearance? Describe it.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
