Definition of "housewife"

housewife

/ˈhaʊs.waɪf/

noun
plural housewives or housewifes
1. (plural "housewives") A woman whose main employment is homemaking, maintaining the upkeep of her home and tending to household affairs; often, such a woman whose sole [unpaid] employment is homemaking.
  Quotations
  Mr Torture sells pain / To the housewives in Spain / He knows just what they crave / Mr Torture
  2000, Uli Kusch, "Mr. Torture", Helloween, The Dark Ride
2. (plural "housewives") The wife of a householder; the mistress of a family; the female head of a household.
3. (plural "housewifes") A little case or bag for materials used in sewing, and for other articles of female work.
  Quotations
  It was a housewife, containing needles, a bodkin, and thread; ‘and, do you know,’ added he, ‘it was the most useful thing she could have given me, for it lasted all the time I was at Rome to mend my clothes with […] .’
  1828, JT Smith, Nollekens and His Times, Century Hutchinson, published 1986, page 246
  Woffington's housewife, made by herself, homely to the eye, but holds everything in the world
  1852, Tom Taylor, Charles Reade, Masks and Faces, act II
  The "soldier's housewife" was a small sewing kit that was carried to make timely repairs to clothing and equipment.
  1997, David L. Phillips, A Soldier's Story, MetroBooks, page 61
4. (plural "housewives", obsolete) A worthless woman; a hussy.
verb
third-person singular simple present housewifes, present participle housewifing, simple past and past participle housewifed
1. Alternative form of housewive

Definition of "housewife"

housewife

noun

Quotations

Quotations

verb