Definition of woman in English:

Phrases

1

as — as the next woman

as — as the average woman: I can be as sceptical as the next woman

2

be someone's woman

(also be the woman)

be the woman perfectly suited to a particular requirement or task: if you want a business partner to show you the ropes, then I'm your woman

3

be woman enough to do

(also be woman enough for)

be brave enough to do: I'm woman enough to admit when I'm wrong she has proven to be woman enough for the job

4

the little woman

dated a condescending way of referring to one's wife: male fisherfolk who take their catch home for the little woman to gut

More example sentences

• Of course, Sabitha could have been a stay-at-home, following her husband around the State wherever his posting took him, minding the children - a daughter and son - and being the little woman.
• Sadly, that's not quite the view of some of the dinosaurs in the business world, who still seem to rate top management material according to the credentials of the little woman who irons his shirts and decorates his arm at corporate dinners.
• They were the sort of places the little woman would go off to now and then, usually with a girlfriend in tow.
• Often dismissed as Joyce's little woman, Nora emerges in Murphy's film as his easy equal, in force of character if not education.
• Mel's birthday was the next day and what did Antonio get his little woman?
• Sorry the little woman got scared, but pour yourselves some drinks and try to have a chuckle about it, like the rest of us.
• So, the chump is scared of me and his little woman is handling his affairs.
• The guy can pretend to be all macho and manly, be protective of the little woman, and then when it's really needed you can't rely on them cause they're too busy off in the corner crying like a baby.

5

my good woman

dated British English a patronizing form of address to a woman: you're mistaken, my good woman

More example sentences

• Now, my good woman, could you be so kind as to tell us where the inn of this quaint town is?
• And Marushka said, ‘Oh, my good woman, how can I go home when my father is unhappy with me?’
• ‘Very well, my good woman; I know what is proper,’ replied I, assuming an important air.
• Little Snow-white looked out of the window and called out, ‘Good-day my good woman, what have you to sell?’
• Then Judge Tyler stepped forward: ‘What would you say, my good woman, if I were to tell you that Patrick Henry fled with the rest of us?’
• The soldiers looked up and replied, ‘Stone soup, my good woman, a wondrous dish and so, so much better if we were to have a single onion or two to drop herein!’
• Mr. Fogg took out the twenty guineas he had just won at whist, and handed them to the beggar, saying, ‘Here, my good woman.’
• ‘Wait a bit, my good woman,’ says he, ‘and see what I have to say to you when I get home.’
• He examined them all, lifted them up and smelled them, and said at last: ‘This jam seems good, weigh me four ounces of it, my good woman; and even if it's a quarter of a pound I won't stick at it.’
• But this advice comes too late for you, my dear woman, and we must deal with the situation at hand.

6

separate the women from the girls

(also sort out the women from the girls British English)

show or prove which women in a group are truly competent, brave, or mature: these are the situations that separate the women from the girls

7

woman about town

a fashionable female socialite: for years it was the place to shop for the smart woman about town

8

woman of the cloth

a clergywoman.

Synonyms

clergyman, clergywoman, priest, churchman, churchwoman, man/woman of the cloth, man/woman of God, cleric, minister, preacher, chaplain, father;

divine, theologian;

bishop, pastor, vicar, rector, parson, (assistant) curate, deacon, deaconess;

Scottish  kirkman;

French abbé, curé;

North American  dominie

informal reverend, padre, Holy Joe, sky pilot

informal Australian  josser

informal,   derogatory Bible-basher, God-botherer

View synonyms

9

woman of God

a clergywoman.

9.1 a holy woman or saint.

10

woman of honour

a woman who adheres to what is right or to a high standard of conduct: that she resigned at all means she is a woman of honour

11

woman of the house

the female head of a household.

12

woman of letters

a female scholar or author.

Example sentences

• The Académie Goncourt, founded under the will of Edmond de Goncourt, is a body of ten men or women of letters which awards an annual money prize for imaginative prose.
• And just as we have noted that Weelkes's text authors were men or women of letters, it is now evident that Weelkes himself was as well.
• ‘The literary’ in turn signifies not high modernist art, but rather the ‘writing practices’ of women of letters at the turn of the twentieth century.
• They were literally men and women of letters and the group was tied together, not only by their emotional connections and daily conversations, but also by the writing of journals and letters.
• The rebellion was, as all biographers agree, necessary that the woman of letters might emerge.
• Fuller was America's first public intellectual woman of letters.
• It's difficult to tell, but perhaps we could have expected a woman of letters, whose name adorns the cover of the 1997 novel Swan, to grasp the Shavian reference.
• Is it then just women of letters, and of a certain income, like Enright and Cusk, who have the luxury of such a complex reaction to motherhood?
• Based on the model of Susanna Haswell Rowson, a predecessor of Hentz's as an American woman of letters, the play was entitled De Lara; or, the Moorish Bride: A Tragedy in Five Acts.
• Already a famous woman of letters who had written A Treatise on the Influence of the Passions on the Happiness of Individuals and Nations, she became his companion for twelve years.
• She was determined to remake herself as a woman of letters.
• You are obviously a woman of letters, but do you know anything about a car's engine?

13

woman of the match

British English the female team member who has given the most outstanding performance in a particular game: she was named woman of the match for a commanding all-round performance in attack and defence

14

woman of the moment

a woman of importance at a particular time: she is the woman of the moment right now in Hollywood

15

the woman on the street

(also the woman in the street British English)

an ordinary woman, with regard to their opinions, or as distinct from an expert: the survey asks a variety of questions to find out what the woman on the street really thinks about saving for retirement.

16

woman of the streets

euphemistic• dated a prostitute.

Example sentences

• It was my job to tend the sick in the hospitals, to advise the women of the streets of their evil ways from the cover of a cowl, to tend the incense and candles in the cathedral.
• If that does not work, they can become women of the streets.
• That guy has more wiles than a woman of the streets,’ he thought with disgust.
• Formerly a woman of the streets, elevated by Count Chabert to the status of Countess, his wife used his lands and fortune to marry into the aristocracy.
• True, if she was a woman of the streets, he would be mad at her, but he'd forgive her.

17

a woman's woman

a woman who is more popular and at ease with other women than with men: I am a woman's woman who likes to encourage my fellow women leaders to keep going

18

woman to woman

in a direct and frank way between two women: Alice smiled at her, woman to woman [as modifier] : the hands-on, woman-to-woman relationship

More example sentences

• While Clery draws lyrical material from her own experiences with the other sex, Lazariuk employs an earthy voice, guitar and rain stick to express the universality of all relationships - man to woman, woman to woman, man to man.
• Once you confront people, and you sit with them and you have a cup of tea, and they see you are not a monster, and you explain person to person, woman to woman, why things are done and how things are done - it changes a lot, their attitude changes.
• Finally after months and months we were fighting, woman to woman.
• She told me she's enamored with the idea of someday sitting down at a cafe with Seana, chatting woman to woman, as they both smoke.
• She had some advice for me about giving birth, woman to woman.
• I just wanted to have, well, a chat, man to man, woman to woman, bairn to bairn as I'm sure they put it doon the Wallygate.
• Our story starts as Shirley picks up the phone to confront Barbara - woman to woman.
• Should she speak to me woman to woman, or enemy to enemy?
• If you really want to help her, you will help by example - talking about your own experience woman to woman, friend to friend.
• She also wanted to talk, woman to woman, about how the day went.