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biddy

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Biddy and Biddie

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Derived from Biddy, diminutive form of Bridget. It became a generic name for an Irish maid (US), and then for an old woman.

Noun

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biddy (plural biddies)

  1. (derogatory) A woman, especially an old woman; especially one regarded as fussy or mean or a gossipy busybody.
    • 1970-1975, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure
      That Mich drag Loretta sent me about 10 pictures of her so I wouldn't think her a "decrepit old lady." But too bad—she looked like someone's biddy aunt.
    • 1978 December 23, Michael Bronski, “Notes and Thoughts by One Gay Man on Pornography and Censorship”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 22, page 11:
      After working a 65 hour week, men would spend their whole paycheck in saloons, drink the whole weekend, and ignore the needs of their families. The overwhelming participation of women in the [temperance] movement was prompted by motives of self preservation [] It is no accident that male historians have chosen to present these women as crazed biddies in an attempt to deny the real reason for their concern.
  2. (uncommon) An attractive girl.
  3. (archaic, colloquial) An Irish maidservant.
  4. (by extension, derogatory) An Irishwoman.
  5. A name used in calling a hen or chicken, often as "biddy-biddy-biddy".
    • c. 1601–1602, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, act 3, scene 4, line 115:
      Ay, biddy, come with me.
    • 1915, Thornton W. Burgess, chapter XI, in The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company:
      "Well, we'll see about it by and by," said Farmer Brown's boy. "There's the breakfast bell, and I haven't fed the biddies yet."
  6. breasts (when used in the phrase "tig biddies" derived from "big tiddies")
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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Noun

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biddy (plural biddies)

  1. (US) Alternative spelling of bitty.