Meaning of Iron Lady | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A nickname given to various female leaders, indicating that they are strong-willed and unyielding.
2. A strong-willed and unrelenting female leader.
3. Margaret Thatcher.
   especially
4. The iron maiden at Nuremberg.
5. A sewing machine.
   archaic

Equivalents

Examples

“Known as the "Serbian Iron⟳ Lady" as a result⟳ of her hard-line nationalism and rabidly anti-Muslim views, Plavsic was a close⟳ ally of Radovan Karadzic.”

“(see⟳ title)”

“Like⟳ her husband, Simone—once called the Iron⟳ Lady and known for her fiery speeches—faced four counts of crimes against humanity for being an indirect co-perpetrator in murder⟳, rape, and other sexual violence, as well as a range of other inhumane acts.”

“On the lawn of the White House, with the Iron⟳ Lady beside him, Reagan may have⟳ pledged that Britain and the USA would 'stand⟳ side by side' in defending freedom -- just so long as it was on US terms.”

“On 16 October 1998, twenty-five years after he left the presidential palace in Santiago to tell⟳ the world the story of the Chilean Revolution, Joan Garcés sent to the Spanish judge⟳ Baltasar Garzón a petition asking for the urgent questioning of General Augusto Pinochet, who was preparing to leave⟳ London after a back operation and afternoon tea with his admirer, ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Over tea and scones, an older Pinochet told the Iron⟳ Lady that opinion polls predicted that Chile could have⟳ its first socialist president since 1973.”

“Using the metaphor of metalurgy he had deployed in the epic parliamentary debate⟳ at the start⟳ of the war, he rose at Prime Minister's Questions on 17 June to remind⟳ the House how he had predicted that the Falklands crisis should determine⟳ what metal the Iron⟳ Lady was made of.”

“In March⟳ 1981, she was put⟳ to the test⟳ for the first time: Bobby Sands (1954-1981), an Irish republican prisoner, and his comrades began a hunger strike⟳ in order⟳ to obtain⟳ the status of political prisoners, thus showing their desire to receive⟳ better treatment. But the Iron⟳ Lady remained unmoved and ignored their request⟳.”

“As Mrs. Degen stoutly declared, those seeking German embraces would do well to remember⟳ the Iron⟳ Lady of Nuremberg.”

“The enterprising young reporter jubilantly began constructing a substantial iron⟳ net on the frail foundation of circumstantial evidence and that net began to close⟳ as tight as the Iron⟳ Lady of Nuremburg^([sic]) round Dean Cardigan.”

“Then it was arranged that I should do a short tour of the unspoilt medieval towns of northern Bavaria – Bamberg, Rothenburg and Nuremberg where I saw⟳ the original machine of torture, the 'Iron⟳ Lady', with its horrific spikes all pointing inwards from the metal shell.”

“The Iron⟳ Lady has iron⟳ spikes and I don't need⟳ holes for air-conditioning my body.”

“On the one hand, the patriarchal discourse constructs the identity of 'an iron⟳ lady' for the successful woman leader.”

“Stories about Biljana Plavsic also contain⟳ the monster narrative. Emphasis on her toughness and her nickname 'iron⟳ lady' hint at a monster characterization, but these images are much more obvious in the emphasis on the view⟳ that Plavsic is lacking in mental balance.”

“Del Ponte only takes the blame⟳ for the last⟳ incident, acknowledging that she realized too late that she had been played by the “iron⟳ lady” from Republica Srpska.”

“It tried one's nerves to look⟳ on the rack that had pulled men to pieces, on the "iron⟳ lady" which opened in front and then embraced and crushed her victim with sharp spikes, and on the sword that had cut⟳ off hundreds of heads.”

“In a castle dungeon in Nuremberg, Germany is a huge, medieval "iron⟳ lady" torture device. Shaped like⟳ a woman, the iron⟳ lady opens to reveal⟳ huge spikes, once used for torture and death.”

“But the best torture of all was the iron⟳ lady; it was a box in the shape⟳ of a lady sitting down.”

“In the delicate parts of work⟳ -- in those mysteries known to the erudite as flounces, gussets, frills, and tucks -- in the learned complications of the herringbone system, and the homely art of darning -- we imagine⟳ that the iron⟳ lady is not proficient.”

“But, the iron⟳ lady's needle is not like⟳ the instrument of a flesh and blood seamstress.”

“Not only thin materials, but Johnny's jeans and corduroys, which the old iron⟳ lady used to chew up and swallow⟳ and then just moan and die⟳ on.”

CEFR level