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Woman vs Spinster - What's the difference?

woman | spinster |

As nouns the difference between woman and spinster

is that woman is an adult female human while spinster is a woman who has never been married, especially one past the typical marrying age according to social traditions.

As a verb woman

is to staff with female labor.

woman

English

(wikipedia woman)

Alternative forms

* womon, womyn, wymyn * wimmen, wimmen

Noun

(women)
  • An adult female human.
  • * Bible, (w) 2:22:
  • And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman .
  • * (John Ledyard) (1751-1789)
  • I have observed among all nations that the women ornament themselves more than the men
  • * 1887 , Helen Campbell, Prisoners of poverty: their trades and their lives , p.120:
  • But this woman' is a nice German ' woman that fell on the ice and sprained her ankle last winter, and we saw to her well as we could till she got better.
  • (lb) All females collectively; womankind.
  • *
  • *:“[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
  • * 1997 , Bob Grant, Let's Be Heard , p.42:
  • For if modern woman is so intent on keeping her surname alive, why not demand it be passed along to her children?
  • * 2011 , Eileen Gray and the Design of Sapphic Modernity: Staying In , p.109:
  • Unsurprisingly, if modern man is a sort of camera, modern woman is a picture.
  • A wife (or sometimes a or girlfriend).
  • * 1914 , , Study of Thomas Hardy and Other Essays , chapter 7: "Of Being and Not-Being":
  • And then, when he lies with his woman , the man may concurrently be with God, and so get increase of his soul.
  • A female who is extremely fond of or devoted to a specified type of thing.
  • * 2004 , Hyveth Williams, Secrets of a Happy Heart: A Fresh Look at the Sermon on the Mount , p.70:
  • Perhaps my problem is that I am a cat woman . I can't imagine any finicky feline (and they all are that at one time or another) slobbering over anyone, even a beloved owner, the way a dog does.
  • A female attendant or servant.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • By her woman I sent your message.

    Synonyms

    * see * female * lady

    Antonyms

    * (age ): girl * (gender ): man

    Derived terms

    * cleaning woman * firewoman * gentlewoman * kept woman * little woman * medicine woman * old woman * other woman * policewoman * womanish * womanly * womanhood * woman suffrage * woman's work * womenfolk * womenhood * women’s lib

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To staff with female labor.
  • * 1956 , Rex Stout, Three Witnesses , The Viking Press, page 54
  • Apparently the Sixty-ninth Street office of Bagby Answers, Inc., was being womaned for the day from other offices.
  • * 1990 , Stephen King, The stand: the complete & uncut edition
  • Gus Dinsmore, the public beach parking lot attendent, said he guessed that so many cars must be just stopped dead along the road that even those manned (or womaned ) by able drivers would be unable to move.
  • * 2010 , Julia Glass, The Widower's Tale , page 77
  • The information desk is now manned (womaned ) by someone whose main job is to help you reserve time slots for the computers or guide you through the arduous process of “logging on.”
  • To make effeminate or womanish.
  • * 1598 , , III. ii. 50:
  • I have felt so many quirks of joy and grief / That the first face of neither on the start / Can woman me unto't.
  • To furnish with, or unite to, a woman.
  • * 1603 , , III. iv. 191:
  • And think it no addition, nor my wish, / To have him see me woman'd .

    See also

    * fair sex * female * feminine * femme * gal * girl * goddess * lady * weaker vessel *

    spinster

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A woman who has never been married, especially one past the typical marrying age according to social traditions.
  • * Coke
  • If a gentlewoman be termed a spinster , she may abate the writ.
  • One who spins (puts a spin on) a political media story so as to give something a favorable or advantageous appearance; a spin doctor, spin merchant or spin master.
  • (obsolete) Someone whose occupation was spinning thread.
  • * ~1601 , William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night , act II, scene IV:
  • The spinsters and the knitters in the sun.
  • (obsolete) A woman of evil life and character; so called from being forced to spin in a house of correction.
  • (rare) A spider; an insect (such as a silkworm) which spins thread.
  • (Webster 1913)

    Synonyms

    * old maid

    See also

    * bachelor * widow * divorcee ----