womanwom‧an /ˈwʊmən/ ●●● S1 W1 noun (plural women /ˈwɪmɪn/) 
I was talking to a woman I met on the flight. married women a popular women’s magazine When a woman is pregnant, the levels of hormones in her body change.woman priest/doctor etc (=a priest etc who is a woman) Ireland’s first woman president women artists2any woman [singular] formal women in general: A woman’s work is never done (=used to say that women have a lot to do).3businesswoman/spokeswoman etc a woman who has a particular kind of job: Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher4another woman/the other woman informal a woman that a man is having a sexual relationship with, even though he is married to someone else: I’m sure he’s got another woman.5be your own woman to make your own decisions and be in charge of your own life, without depending on anyone else6partner [singular] spoken a word meaning a wife or girlfriend, which many women find offensive: Did he bring his new woman with him? → kept woman7form of address [uncountable] old-fashioned not polite a rude way of speaking to a woman when you are angry, annoyed etc8servant [countable] a female servant or person who does cleaning work for you in your house → old woman, → make an honest woman (out) of somebody at honest(8), → be a woman of the world at world1(21)THESAURUSwoman a female adult person: · a young woman with dark brown hairlady a polite word for a woman – used especially when you do not know the woman, or when the person you are talking to does not know the woman: · A glass of white wine please, for this lady here.· The young lady stood up and shook my hand.girl a young female person – usually used about someone younger than about twenty: · a very pretty girl· teenage girlsfemale formal a woman – used especially when you are giving information about women, for example in formal surveys and reports: · Females account for 46% of Internet users.relating to womenfemale relating to women or girls: · female voters· Advertisers try to sell things by using images of the female body.feminine used about qualities that are considered to be typical of women: · You must not cry or show any other feminine weakness.· the ideal of feminine beautywomanly behaving, dressing etc in a way that is thought to be typical of or suitable for a woman – used to show approval: · her womanly figure· the womanly virtues of compassion and patiencegirly/girlie informal behaving or dressing in a way that is thought to be typical of young girls, or suitable for a girl – often used disapprovingly: · Stop being so girly! It's only a mouse!· a very girlie pink dresseffeminate disapproving a man who is effeminate looks or behaves like a woman: · His long blonde hair made him look rather effeminate.· a pale effeminate-looking young man
WORD ORIGINwoman
Origin:
Old English wifman, from wif ( ➔ WIFE) + man ‘person’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- women's clothes
- Women drivers tend to be much more careful than men.
- an exciting new collection of short stories by women writers
- In some African countries, the women do most of the agricultural work.
- Mrs Thatcher was Britain's first woman prime minister.
- Not long ago, the Church of England voted to ordain women priests.
- Rebecca Stephens was the first British woman to climb Mount Everest.
- What can a woman do when she can't trust her best friend?
- Who's that woman you were talking to just now?
- Who was the dark-haired woman you were talking to?
- All participants were new sales and marketing managers, fourteen men and five women.
- And women go through a monthly pain cycle.
- But this woman was nothing like her.
- Could a man who deserted his wife and child for another woman get off free without scars?
- Some women work because, having reduced responsibilities and ties, they have more spare time and freedom.
THESAURUS
a female adult person: · a young woman with dark brown hair
a polite word for a woman – used especially when you do not know the woman, or when the person you are talking to does not know the woman: · A glass of white wine please, for this lady here.· The young lady stood up and shook my hand.
a young female person – usually used about someone younger than about twenty: · a very pretty girl· teenage girls
formal a woman – used especially when you are giving information about women, for example in formal surveys and reports: · Females account for 46% of Internet users.
relating to women relating to women or girls: · female voters· Advertisers try to sell things by using images of the female body.
used about qualities that are considered to be typical of women: · You must not cry or show any other feminine weakness.· the ideal of feminine beauty
behaving, dressing etc in a way that is thought to be typical of or suitable for a woman – used to show approval: · her womanly figure· the womanly virtues of compassion and patience
informal behaving or dressing in a way that is thought to be typical of young girls, or suitable for a girl – often used disapprovingly: · Stop being so girly! It's only a mouse!· a very girlie pink dress
disapproving a man who is effeminate looks or behaves like a woman: · His long blonde hair made him look rather effeminate.· a pale effeminate-looking young man
Longman Language Activatora woman a female adult: · Rebecca Stephens was the first British woman to climb Mount Everest.· Who's that woman you were talking to just now?· In some African countries, the women do most of the agricultural work.
a polite word for a woman, especially a woman who is there when you are speaking about her: · There's a lady here who wants to speak to you about her account.old lady: · Ella is the elderly lady who lives next door.ladies and gentlemen (=use this when you are talking to an audience, making a speech etc): · Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to welcome you here tonight.
a young woman: · He's going out with that girl who works in the library.· On Saturday night, the streets are full of teenage girls and boys, out for a good time.young girl: · In Britain, some young girls are choosing parenthood as an alternative to employment.
a woman who does a particular job or activity: woman writer/teacher/priest/driver etc · Mrs Thatcher was Britain's first woman prime minister.· an exciting new collection of short stories by women writers· Not long ago, the Church of England voted to ordain women priests.· Women drivers tend to be much more careful than men.policewoman/businesswoman/publicity woman etc · A young policewoman was standing at the door.· I was impressed by some of the high-flying businesswomen at the conference.
formal a female worker, teacher, singer etc is a woman or girl - use this to contrast women with men who are doing the same thing: · Emma is the only female lawyer that the firm has ever employed.· Female students tend to get better grades than male students.· In Tokyo, the number of female taxi drivers is up 75% since 1972.
a polite word, which some women may find offensive, for a woman who does an important or professional job: lady doctor/councillor etc: · I'd rather see a lady doctor, if that's possible.· The town has had a lady mayor for a couple of years now.
what you call a woman when you speak to her or write to her British /Mrs. American use this before the family name of a woman who is married: · Mrs Thomas, the doctor is ready to see you now.· "Dear Mrs. Gilman," the letter said ...· It's Mrs Hawksworth's 70th birthday this weekend.
use this before the family name of a woman who has never been married: · The children were told that they should call their new teacher Miss Watts.· My secretary, Miss Evans, will meet you in reception.
British /Ms. American use this before a woman's family name if you do not know whether she is married, or if it is not important whether she is married: · Would you prefer to be called Mrs or Ms Cawley?· Does anyone know a Ms. Jacobs? There's a letter for her here.
formal use this when writing a formal letter to a woman. In British English this is also used when talking to a customer in a shop, hotel, restaurant etc: · Can I help you, madam?· Dear Madam, I am writing in response to your advertisement.Madam Chairman (=use this to address a female chairman in a formal discussion): · Madam Chairman, I would like to reply to that point.
American spoken a polite word used when talking to a woman who you do not know: · Would you like some help, ma'am?
for women or relating to women use this about things that are designed for women or done by women, and not designed for or done by men: · She's the fashion editor for a women's magazine.· Why don't they ever show women's football on TV?· the latest and most fashionable trends in women's clothes
formal used, especially in the past, about things that are designed for women or done by women, and not designed for or done by men : · I managed to get a place on the university ladies' golf team.· the ladies' tennis tournament· Ladies' fashions are on the first floor.the ladies' room/the ladies' (=the women's toilets in a public place): · Could you tell me where the ladies' room is?
use this about behaviour or personal qualities that are traditionally thought to be typical of women, or about physical characteristics that belong to women: · Many women reject the traditional female roles of wife and mother.· Patience and kindness are often seen as female qualities.· the female reproductive system
looking attractive in a way that is traditionally thought to be typical of a woman: · Hairstyles this autumn are long, soft and very feminine.· Lindsay wears very feminine clothes - pretty dresses with flowers on and things like that.· the rounded feminine shape
use this about a man who behaves like a woman or looks like a woman: · He was very young and handsome in a slightly effeminate way.· The way he walks is a bit effeminate, and he sounds effeminate too.
womanly qualities are typical of a grown woman, especially one who is sensible, kind etc: · She had a plump, womanly figure.· the conventional womanly virtues of patience and sense· He thought that since she'd had children, she'd grown more attractive and womanly.
believing in equal rights for women a set of beliefs based on the principle that women are equal to men and should be treated equally: · There were many close links between social reform movements and feminism.· the civilising influence of feminism
someone who believes strongly in the principle that men and women should be treated equally, and that society should be changed so that this can happen: · The feminists marched in thousands when David Laing urged married women to give up their jobs and stay at home.radical feminist (=someone with extreme feminist views): · In the 1960's I saw myself as a revolutionary and a radical feminist.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY It was a happy but childless marriage. a loose woman a glossy fashion magazine She’s the editor of a popular women’s magazine. Who was the mystery woman spotted on board the yacht with the prince? a one-woman show The car park is for staff only. Arriving late is a woman’s prerogative. Life is hard for us women. a well-woman clinic Many working women rely on relatives for childcare.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
(=a priest etc who is a woman) Ireland’s first woman president women artists
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Ireland’s first woman president women artists (=one whose job is very important to her)· Career women tend to marry later.
It was a happy but childless marriage. (=a woman who cleans houses, offices etc as her job)
(=the perfect one for you)· We can help you find the house of your dreams.
· Men’s fashions have not changed much in 50 years.
a loose woman· Your son’s a lucky man, having a father like you.
a glossy fashion magazine She’s the editor of a popular women’s magazine.· By 1957 a third of married women were working.
Who was the mystery woman spotted on board the yacht with the prince? (=someone with a particular name) some guy named Bob Dylan
some guy named Bob Dylan a one-woman show The car park is for staff only. literary (=with a lot of energy or violence)
· There is still a lot of prejudice against women in positions of authority.
Arriving late is a woman’s prerogative. (=someone with strong moral ideas)· He is the only candidate who has demonstrated that he is a man of principle.
· New laws have been passed to protect women’s rights.
Life is hard for us women.· the children’s wear section of the store
a well-woman clinic Many working women rely on relatives for childcare.· Instead, black married women stopped having so many children; black unmarried women continued to have them as before.· Like the black woman in a slave narrative, the Chicana remains here an abiding if sometimes invisible medium of exchange.· Some Black women use bleaching creams.· Ginger Montgomery is a black woman in her late 30s.· Compensation comes later, though; their heavy bones make black women less likely to suffer from osteoporosis when they're older.· I glanced at the young black woman beside me.· Jane was squeezed beside the fattest black woman she'd ever seen, shaking like a jelly with continual mirth.
· In addition, unmarried women carers are more likely than either married women or men to be carrying particularly heavy caring responsibilities.· The proportion of married women falls to just over two in ten, and the proportion widowed rises to nearly two-thirds.· Older married women are less likely than men to receive a National Insurance retirement pension in their own right.· In those days married women didn't work, so for her it was the ideal solution.· She admired married women, especially those with children, more than anyone else.· How could he when she was still a married woman?· A young married woman was removed from intensive care during the day and a third patient's condition was unchanged.· There was to be a drive to recruit married women who had left teaching, and to make part-time teaching more attractive.
· He had held the paper as tightly as an old woman holds a rosary.· Despite all the community agencies, there is no place to put a forsaken old woman.· The room smelled of old woman.· Helen, feeding the old woman mush on a spoon.· An old woman who looked, as the flatterers said, remarkable.· The old woman stalled the robbers in their search for the ring and gave them wine with sleeping medicine.· An old woman ridiculous in the presence of desire.· The old woman walked about two feet toward the car at the curb.
· A technician with Courtelle, 30-year-old Dawn is the only woman among the 50 auxiliary fire personnel at the site.· The only woman ever elected governor of Texas was Miriam Ferguson in 1924.· Portia however is not the only woman to have these traits, however.· Upstairs the red-haired man was in bed with the only woman in the group.· I find it disappointing now that when I go to a completion meeting, I am often the only woman there.· She was the only woman there.· My little Shelley, you are the only woman I have ever met who can make me very happy.
· Between them Caroline and M have every quality I hate in other women.· How we relate to other women.· But there was no doubt that it was the other woman on the line.· Then she lay down to rest in the lounge, surrounded by other women who even here never stopped talking.· They added their prayers to those of the other women.· There are other events for women only.· She'd accused him of always looking at other women: looking, looking, as though for the next conquest.· After all, the role of the other woman was hardly one she delighted in.
· In February 1985 a young pregnant woman from Ballywilliam, Nenagh, Co.· Also patron of the falsely accused, midwives, obstetricians, and pregnant women.· The new edition includes a new chapter on smoking among pregnant women.· He would never execute a pregnant woman, he said.· Also patron of divine intervention and pregnant women.· Now I feel so unhappy and jealous when I see babies or pregnant women.· The pregnant woman can not be isolated in her privacy.
· She was invariably polite to Gerald which was not always the case with young women.· There were young women here too-female Halut-zim, evidently.· Books were published in reply and arguments advanced in favour of young women.· The easiest way to ensure this was to choose a very young woman, still in her teens.· To be sure, there are more young men and women in this age group because of the 1960's baby boom.· These young women have stopped feeling.· But this was the real world, and young women like Shelley just didn't fit in with men like Miguelito.· They seem fortunate to some because they are left to pursue young women without being caught in the coils of female sexuality.
VERB· Having to choose between living with their parents or getting married, most young women used to opt for marriage.· He married a woman from the Washington area two weeks before his 1994 defeat.· It would be much more sensible for you to marry a woman with money.· The gigolo has married a rich woman whose husband abandoned her.· The proportion of never-married women under 50 who are cohabiting has trebled to three in 10 over this period.· They are all young married women who followed their husbands out here.· In the early 1970s only 7.5 % of married women were in paid employment.· Most married women surveyed said they were not victims of love at first sight and not moved to marriage by romance.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► businesswoman/spokeswoman etc► another woman/the other womanPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► people/women/students etc of color► a fine figure of a man/woman► a man/woman etc after my own heart► woman/man etc of independent means► be/feel like a new man/woman► somebody’s old woman► be one crazy woman/be one interesting job etc► man/woman of many parts► the thinking man’s/woman’s etc something► the women’s movement
- But behind everything she did was a raw power that emphasised she was her own woman.
- And a T'ang is not just any man.
- It was not intended to suggest that these were battered wives.
- Moreover, battered women often wind up dropping the charges as reconciliation with the abuser.
- Now the ikons of female suffering are all around us; the image of the battered woman is high fashion.
- The church has already erred on this side in the counsel it has given battered women.
- The groups most adamant about denying help to battered women were the conservative fundamentalists and some orders of Catholicism.
- The person on call made us a cup of tea - battered wives' homes are the greatest!
- They took us to the police station and then to a battered women's house at about 2 a.m.
- We have often been tempted to abandon this task; then another battered woman would come into our lived.
- Marley said he was sorry for his crimes and insists he's a changed man.
- My father came back from the war a changed man.
- She returned from her travel a changed woman.
- But when he came home he was a changed man.
- He's a changed man since Mum went into hospital.
- He emerged from the opera house a changed man.
- He lives only for the moment, and he is already a changed man.
- Ian says from then on Robert has been a changed man - withdrawn and completely unapproachable.
- Meanwhile, the master strategist, off in Los Angeles, was sixty-nine years old and a changed man.
- Sadly, morals and behaviour ashore had deteriorated too with more drunks and ladies of easy virtue in evidence.
- She was a fallen woman, and her hair knew it.
- Whatever she can urge in mitigation, she is a fallen woman for the rest of her life.
- Vellios was a fine figure of a man.
- And he was a fine man, a good man.
- Aye, a fine man, Elizabeth thought admiringly.
- Ben's a fine man, but he does talk so much.
- He was a fine man, Con Meredith-Lee.
- I travelled in and they did an interview which a fine man called Peter Canham heard on his car radio.
- Really sad case, that, because he'd been a fine man.
- She was a fine woman, unspoilt by childbirth, her body hardened by fieldwork.
- You're a fine woman when you're roused, my darling.
- Grown men in three-piece suits were playing video games.
- Elsie had never seen a grown man cry before.
- He' s a grown man - he should be able to cook for himself!
- She's crazy -- a grown woman letting a girl order her around like that.
- And the old Porsche 911 which has the same effect, but for very different reasons, on grown men.
- I was fourteen, but I guess I looked like a grown woman.
- In this story about Shep, he is a grown man and the prosperous owner of a silk mill.
- Nearly twenty years ago that was, and now you re a grown woman.
- No wonder that many grown women rebel against them.
- Not one grown man, aristocrat or peasant, is worthy of respect when you really know him.
- Several that I saw were very old, bearded, emaciated and grim and deathlike, instead of babies, grown men.
- She was a grown woman, she was entitled to take a bit of comfort as and when she pleased.
- If dishonoured her, must then make an honest woman of her?
- She's a women's libber, so it's all on offer.
- He was a tough little kid, Esteban, the women in his life say.
- Michael: Who are the men in your life?
- My doctor is the man in my life.
- Nevertheless, he felt abandoned and betrayed by the women in his life.
- Recent books have revealed the unacknowledged literary debts that writers such as Brecht and Joyce owed to the women in their lives.
- To clarify things that may be confusing the men in their lives.
- Was that why she found the men in her life all so boring?
- Why was it that the men in her life seemed to have found some other woman to give them an heir?
- A pinstriped husband in the city patronisingly fond of the little woman and her projects.
- The report explodes the myth that men are the bed-hopping rogues while the little woman waits at home.
- What is incomprehensible is John McEnroe's apparent efforts to keep the little woman at home.
- But Chennault was a marked man.
- Ever since his luncheon with Katherine Fisher, Jim had felt like a marked man whenever he was in the office complex.
- From that time he was dedicated, a marked man.
- He thus became a marked man.
- In his defence, Souness believes his no-nonsense approach has made him a marked man.
- It was well known that the younger Beaumont twin was a marked man.
- Mark Gallagher - marked man today Much ado about nothing!
- Without Young, forward Andy Poppink is a marked man.
- A man with a mission who suddenly loses his faith.
- How can a 77-year-old man with a mission admit that he was wrong all along?
- Powered by a man with a mission.
- I couldn't believe it when the other woman turned out to be my next-door neighbor.
- Carrie's only problem was the other woman who worked in the dining rooms.
- Eva was more lucid than most of the other women, yet she never got out of the locked ward.
- Her hair was fair, so that I thought for a moment of the other woman I had met recently, Elizabeth Lavenza.
- Hilda returned to her seat next to Omite, while the other women seemed to form a circle that excluded her.
- Lakshmiamma, a lace-maker in Narsapur, gave a talk to the other women recently.
- She cries a little when one of the other women stops to talk.
- She resolved to find out about the other woman.
- The father never guessed any of the other women in the room.
- She didn't want to quarrel with him, but made it plain that she was her own woman now, with her own life to lead.
- Sheila is very much her own woman. She'll listen to everyone and then make up her mind for herself.
- Stan was intellectual, confident and above all, his own man.
- At the same time, both here and in Hawksmoor, Ackroyd, too, is his own man.
- But Erlich was his own man.
- He turned out to be his own man, and a leader.
- He was his own man, after all.
- Major's first chance to show that he is his own man has been squandered on favours.
- Mobile I was my own man and played the way I believed because we lacked talent in certain areas.
- The latest reshuffle, immediately following victory, was supposed to confirm, once and for all, that Major was his own man.
- You can be your own man.
- A mature spinster, a professional woman, might.
- About 80 percent of its clients are business and professional women.
- As far as childcare is concerned, professional women have to rely on paid care.
- Glossy, high-powered soap opera about four black professional women helping one another through a bad year in Phoenix.
- Of those executive and professional women who did marry, most chose not to have children or deferred them until very late.
- The result is that the practical definition of obscenity has been decided by middle-aged-to-elderly professional men.
- There may be a willing volunteer or a professional person specially appointed, but this may not be easy to find.
- These are very well-educated professional women in Fog Bank who felt insecure about investing.
- The advertising industry has to know exactly what the man in the street is thinking.
- This latest legislation will not really affect the man or woman in the street.
- But the man in the street will say: how can it get worse?
- He picked up the women in the street.
- Like most of the women in the street, Pat Johnstone had been angered by it all.
- One of the men in the street ran to open the door, then another man pushed him.
- That's what the man in the street wants.
- The Alliance Party had a slightly Roman Catholic image with the man in the street.
- Then comes the whip, the sudden vicious reminder of the man in the street.
- Aristeides represented the land forces, the men of substance, who provided their own armour and were not paid.
- But Miss Close's father was a man of substance, and he finally bought the picture for a rather large sum.
- He accepted the semi-political duties of a man of substance in his county.
- He was a man of substance.
- His will, executed on 12 December 1760, shows him to have been a man of substance.
- I am not worried about the men of substance.
- I was a man of substance now, I had arrived.
- The lowest officials on the administrative tier were the village headmen, who were normally men of substance.
- We shouldn't accept the analysis of the token woman.
- You have to be both token woman and superwoman to come anywhere near a shortlist that disenfranchises most of the male population.
- Bill Templeman was a man of few words.
- Blitherdick, usually a man of few words, had become lachrymose about Blenkinsop's enjoyment of a good wine.
- He had a clear scientific mind but was self-effacing, modest, and a man of few words.
- He was a man of few words but many graphic gestures.
- He was a man of few words in any case, Maggie noted.
- I am therefore a man of few words and I have been very brief throughout my professional career.
- Look, Ray, you're a man of the world - I'm sure you've been in situations like this before.
WORD FAMILYnounwomanwomanhoodwomankindwomanizerwomanizingwomanlinessadjectivewomanlywomanishverbwomanize
1female person [countable] an adult female person: I was talking to a woman I met on the flight. married women a popular women’s magazine When a woman is pregnant, the levels of hormones in her body change.woman priest/doctor etc (=a priest etc who is a woman) Ireland’s first woman president women artists2any woman [singular] formal women in general: A woman’s work is never done (=used to say that women have a lot to do).3businesswoman/spokeswoman etc a woman who has a particular kind of job: Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher4another woman/the other woman informal a woman that a man is having a sexual relationship with, even though he is married to someone else: I’m sure he’s got another woman.5be your own woman to make your own decisions and be in charge of your own life, without depending on anyone else6partner [singular] spoken a word meaning a wife or girlfriend, which many women find offensive: Did he bring his new woman with him? → kept woman7form of address [uncountable] old-fashioned not polite a rude way of speaking to a woman when you are angry, annoyed etc8servant [countable] a female servant or person who does cleaning work for you in your house → old woman, → make an honest woman (out) of somebody at honest(8), → be a woman of the world at world1(21)THESAURUSwoman a female adult person: · a young woman with dark brown hairlady a polite word for a woman – used especially when you do not know the woman, or when the person you are talking to does not know the woman: · A glass of white wine please, for this lady here.· The young lady stood up and shook my hand.girl a young female person – usually used about someone younger than about twenty: · a very pretty girl· teenage girlsfemale formal a woman – used especially when you are giving information about women, for example in formal surveys and reports: · Females account for 46% of Internet users.relating to womenfemale relating to women or girls: · female voters· Advertisers try to sell things by using images of the female body.feminine used about qualities that are considered to be typical of women: · You must not cry or show any other feminine weakness.· the ideal of feminine beautywomanly behaving, dressing etc in a way that is thought to be typical of or suitable for a woman – used to show approval: · her womanly figure· the womanly virtues of compassion and patiencegirly/girlie informal behaving or dressing in a way that is thought to be typical of young girls, or suitable for a girl – often used disapprovingly: · Stop being so girly! It's only a mouse!· a very girlie pink dresseffeminate disapproving a man who is effeminate looks or behaves like a woman: · His long blonde hair made him look rather effeminate.· a pale effeminate-looking young man