kembster
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English kembestere, kempstare, kemster, equivalent to kemb + -ster.
Noun
[edit]kembster (plural kembsters)
- (archaic, historical) A woman who cleans or combs out wool
- 2005, Marjorie Keniston McIntosh, Working Women in English Society, 1300-1620, page 15:
- A married woman who supplemented her family's income by brewing ale or combing wool for yarn would not have been identified in the records as a brewster or kembster.