housewive

English

Alternative forms

• housewife
• huswife (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaʊswaɪv/

Verb

housewive (third-person singular simple present housewives, present participle housewiving, simple past and past participle housewived)

1. (transitive, especially of women) To manage with skill and economy.
   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):

     Conferred those moneys on the nuns, which since they have well-housewived.

2. To act as a housewife

References

• “housewive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.