woman
woman [woman women] BrE [ˈwʊmən] NAmE [ˈwʊmən] noun (pl. womenBrE [ˈwɪmɪn] ; NAmE [ˈwɪmɪn] )
1. countable an adult female human
•men, women and children
•a 24-year-old woman
• I prefer to see a woman doctor.
•women drivers
2. uncountable female humans in general: (informal) She's all woman! (= has qualities that are typical of women)
3. countable (in compounds)a woman who comes from the place mentioned or whose job or interest is connected with the thing mentioned
•an Englishwoman
•a businesswoman
•a Congresswoman
•a horsewoman
4. countable a female worker, especially one who works with her hands
•We used to have a woman to do the cleaning.
5. singular (old-fashioned)a rude way of addressing a female person in an angry or important way
•Be quiet, woman!
6. countable (sometimes disapproving)a wife or sexual partner
•He's got a new woman in his life.
see also ↑fallen woman, ↑kept woman, ↑other woman
more at a man/woman after your own heart at ↑heart, hell hath no fury (like a woman scorned) at ↑hell, make an honest woman of sb at ↑honest, the man (and/or woman) in the street at ↑man n., a man/woman of (many) parts at ↑part n., like a man/woman possessed at ↑possessed, a man/woman of substance at ↑substance, a man/woman of the world at ↑world
Idiom: ↑your own man
Word Origin:
Old English wīfmon, -man (see ↑wife, ↑man), a formation peculiar to English, the ancient word being ↑wife.
More About:
gender
Ways of talking about men and women
When you are writing or speaking English it is important to use language that includes both men and women equally. Some people may be very offended if you do not.The human race
Man and mankind have traditionally been used to mean ‘all men and women’. Many people now prefer to use humanity, the human race, human beings or people.Jobs
The suffix -ess in names of occupations such as actress, hostess and waitress shows that the person doing the job is a woman. Many people now avoid these. Instead you can use actor or host, (although actress and hostess are still very common) or a neutral word, such as server for waiter and waitress.
Neutral words like assistant, worker, person or officer are now often used instead of -man or -woman in the names of jobs. For example, you can use police officer instead of policeman or policewoman, and spokesperson instead of spokesman or spokeswoman. Neutral words are very common in newspapers, on television and radio and in official writing, in both BrE and NAmE.
When talking about jobs that are traditionally done by the other sex, some people say: a male secretary/nurse/model (NOT man) or a woman/female doctor/barrister/driver. However this is now not usually used unless you need to emphasize which sex the person is, or it is still unusual for the job to be done by a man/woman: ▪ My daughter prefers to see a woman doctor. ◇ ▪ They have a male nanny for their kids. ◇ ▪ a female racing driver Pronouns
He used to be considered to cover both men and women: ▪ Everyone needs to feel he is loved. This is not now acceptable. Instead, after everybody, everyone, anybody, anyone, somebody, someone, etc. one of the plural pronouns they, them, and their is often used: ▪ Does everybody know what they want? ◇ ▪ Somebody’s left their coat here. ◇ ▪ I hope nobody’s forgotten to bring their passport with them.
Some people prefer to use he or she, his or her, or him or her in speech and writing: ▪ Everyone knows what’s best for him or herself. He/she or (s)he can also be used in writing: ▪ If in doubt, ask your doctor. He/she can give you more information. (You may find that some writers just use ‘she’.) These uses can seem awkward when they are used a lot. It is better to try to change the sentence, using a plural noun. Instead of saying: ▪ A baby cries when he or she is tired you can say ▪ Babies cry when they are tired.
Example Bank:
•Jean Menkes plays the president's wife and Fiona Handley plays the other woman.
•Older women often have difficulty conceiving.
•She was the ‘other woman’ in this family drama= the one the husband was having an affair with.
•The freedom to wear trousers became a symbol of women's liberation.
•The little girl she remembered was now a grown woman.
•The thief tricked his way into an elderly woman's home.
•There were important changes in the position of women in society.
•We want to change the way women are depicted in the media.
•Women are limited to the more poorly paid jobs.
•Women are reduced to merely playing a passive role.
•a United Nations report on violence against women
•a hostel for battered women
•a professor of women's studies
•highly educated women who are successful in business
•Alcohol affects men and women differently.
•The drug carries a warning against use by pregnant women.
•Two elderly women were sat at the next table.
|
|
