| 单词 | old maid |
| 释义 | old maid (once / 1875 pages) 1n 2n 3n An old maid is a woman who's not married, especially one who's very old. When you hear someone described as an old maid, you'll know it's a comment on the fact that she has no husband. The term old maid is old fashioned and fairly derogatory — in other words, it's not nice to call someone an old maid. Back in the days when the idea of a woman remaining unmarried was a little bit shocking, most people had an old maid aunt or sister. And in the card game called old maid, which has been around since Victorian times, players try to avoid being left with the black queen, or the old maid. WORD FAMILYold maid: old maids USAGE EXAMPLES“Your piano’s an old maid with a gray tabby on her lap,” Rosetta says bluntly. New York Times(Sep 14, 2016) “Mr. Buchanan is an able man but. . . sometimes acts like an old maid.” Washington Post(Apr 27, 2016) Men are bachelors – a word that conjures up images of a pre-Amal George Clooney – while women are old maids and spinsters. The Guardian(Feb 24, 2016) 1 n an elderly unmarried woman 2Syn|Hyper spinster unmarried woman a woman who is not married 1n a card game using a pack of cards from which one queen has been removed; players match cards and the player holding the unmatched queen at the end of the game is the loser (or `old maid') Hyper card game, cards a game played with playing cards 2n the loser in a game of old maid 3Hyper also-ran, loser a contestant who loses the contest 1n any of various plants of the genus Zinnia cultivated for their variously and brightly colored flower heads Syn|Hypo|Hyper old maid flower, zinnia Zinnia acerosa, white zinnia subshrub with slender woolly stems and long narrow leaves and flower heads with white rays; southern United States and northern Mexico Zinnia grandiflora, little golden zinniasubshrub having short leafy stems and numerous small flower heads with nearly round yellow-orange rays; Arizona south to Mexico and east to Kansas flower a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms 2n commonly cultivated Old World woody herb having large pinkish to red flowers Syn|Hyper Cape periwinkle, Catharanthus roseus, Madagascar periwinkle, Vinca rosea, cayenne jasmine, periwinkle, red periwinkle, rose periwinkle herb, herbaceous plant a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests |
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