little woman
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English
[edit]Noun
[edit]little woman (plural little women)
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see little, woman.
- 1918 February (date written), Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Je ne parle pas français”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 105:
- This impression was so strong that often when we were together and he got up and left a little woman just when she did not expect him to get up and leave her, but quite the contrary, I would explain: “He can't help it, Baby. He has to go back to his ship.”
- (informal) A wife.
- 1848 December 19, Charles Dickens, “The Gift Diffused”, in The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain. A Fancy for Christmas-time, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], →OCLC, pages 74–75:
- “My little woman,” said her husband dubiously, “are you quite sure you're better? Or are you, Sophia, about to break out in a fresh direction?”
- (euphemistic) A female person with dwarfism, or short stature resulting from a medical condition.