house-wife

Definitions

Archaic form of housewife.

alt-of, archaic

Examples

“But let⟳ us paſs over the Sacred Hiſtories, and give⟳ me leave⟳ (following the Proverb, which ſaith, We muſt learn⟳ the manners of our Predeceſſors, and practice according to the preſent age) to lay⟳ out unto you the wayes how a good Houſe-wife (as to thoſe particular things belonging to her Charge) ſhall Order⟳ and Govern a farm, as that it may keep⟳ and maintain⟳ with the Profit and Increaſe thereof, her Husband, and all his Family, which ſhall be hereafter declared in this Tract of The Office of the good Houſe-wife; […]”

“How many are there not Houſe-Wives, but Drones rather? Living wholly on the Sweat⟳ of their Husbands browes, as the Drone doth on the Honey that the Bee maketh and bringeth in?”

“My own⟳ hand / Shall do the houſe-wife’s work⟳, ſhall ſpin and knit⟳, / And earn⟳ by induſtry ſufficient bread.”

“The boys are destined to become⟳ expert seamen, and the girls skilful, sensible, industrious house-wives,—nothing more.”

“She is a very expert and industrious house-wife; her great economy is very remarkable; she is almost always first up in the house, and sees that every one gets his food properly.”

“Mr. Slocomb had been a thrifty inhabitant of the Empire State, the owner of a fine farm, stocked with fine cattle, and plenty of them, the husband of a thrifty, prudent, industrious house-wife, and the father of a fine lot of boys, of several ages, from two to twelve.”

“How concentrated and how pungent are the fiction and romance displayed by the average waitress, all expert house-wives know⟳ too well, and too much to their own⟳ cost⟳. She can tell⟳ more short stories in a month about teacups shedding their own⟳ handles, about dinner[-]plates nicking each other, and about wine[-]glasses breaking themselves, than the reviewer could notice⟳ in these columns in a year.”

CEFR level