woman

A woman's place is in the home.

Prov. Women should remain in the home, doing housework and raising children. (This notion is generally regarded as old-fashioned.) As soon as our child is old enough to go to school, I'm going to go back to my job at the newspaper. And don't give me any of that nonsense about a woman's place being in the home.

See also: home, place

A woman's work is never done.

Prov. Housework and raising children are jobs that have no end. (*Typically said by a woman to indicate how busy she is.) "As soon as I finish washing the breakfast dishes, it's time to start fixing lunch," Elizabeth observed. "A woman's work is never done." After a difficult day at the office, Greta came home and began cooking dinner. "A woman's work is never done," she sighed.

See also: done, never, work

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Prov. There is nothing as unpleasant as a woman who has been offended or whose love has not been returned. When Mary Ann discovered that George was not in love with her, George discovered that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Bill: I'm getting tired of going out with Mary; I think I'll tell her we're through. Fred: Be careful. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, you know.

See also: fury, hath, hell, like, scorn

make an honest woman of someone

Fig. to marry a woman. (Intended as jocular.) So you finally made an honest woman out of Denise. She had wanted Max to make an honest woman of her, but you can't depend on Max to do anything right.

See also: honest, make

woman of ill repute

Euph. a prostitute. His favorite companion was a woman of ill repute. If you can't be faithful to your husband, you're no better than a woman of ill repute.

See also: ill, repute

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somebody's right-hand man/woman

someone who helps you with your work and who you depend upon How will the Director cope without his right-hand man, who resigned yesterday due to ill health?

See also: man

a fallen woman  (old-fashioned)

a woman who is not respected any more because she had sex without being married Many fallen women were forced to work as prostitutes, some were shut away in asylums.

See also: fallen

a kept man/woman  (humorous)

someone who does not work and who is given money and a place to live by the person who they are having a sexual relationship with She was determined to find work and not become a kept woman like her sister.

See also: man

a man of his word  also a woman of her word

someone you can trust because you know they will do what they say they will do Rae was a woman of her word - if she said she'd be here on Friday, she'd be here on Friday.

See also: his, man, word

a man/woman after your own heart

if someone is a man or woman after your own heart, you admire them because they do or believe the same things as you He likes a good curry - a man after my own heart.

See also: after, heart, man

a man/woman of means

someone who has a lot of money I could tell from her address that she was a woman of means.

See also: man, mean

a man/woman of the world

someone who has a lot of experience of life, and is not usually shocked by the way people behave You're a man of the world, Roger, I'd appreciate your advice on a rather delicate matter.

See also: man, world

a scarlet woman  (old-fashioned)

a woman who people think is morally bad because she has sex with a lot of men She was labelled a scarlet woman and excluded from polite society.

be your own man/woman/person

to behave in the way that you want and to not let other people influence you Despite being the daughter of two Hollywood stars, she's very much her own woman with her own acting style.

See also: man

be a fine figure of a man/woman  (old-fashioned)

to be someone who is big and strong with an attractive body She's a fine figure of a woman - not like all these skinny models.

See also: figure, fine, man

like a man/woman possessed

if you do something like a man possessed, you do it with a lot of energy in a way that is not controlled He'd lost the tickets and was running round the house like a man possessed.

See also: like, man, possessed

make an honest woman of somebody   (humorous)

if a man makes an honest woman of someone that he is having a relationship with, he marries her You've been living with Jean for five years, isn't it time you made an honest woman of her?

See also: honest, make

the man/woman on the Clapham omnibus  (British)

an imaginary person whose opinions and behaviour are thought to be typical of ordinary British people (usually singular) The man on the Clapham omnibus probably knows nothing about Rwanda.

See also: man

the man/woman/something of your dreams

the person or thing that you would like more than any other I'm not sure I'll ever meet the man of my dreams, or if he even exists. At last, we'd found it, the house of our dreams.

See also: man

the man/woman/person in the street

a typical, ordinary person Do the plans for celebrating the millennium take into account the views of the man in the street?

See also: man, street

the thinking man's/woman's crumpet  (British humorous)

a man or woman who is popular with the opposite sex because they are both intelligent and sexually attractive Paxman has apparently grown weary of being labelled the thinking woman's crumpet.

See can't think straight

See also: thinking

You can't keep a good man/woman down.  (humorous)

something that you say which means that a person with a strong character will always succeed, even if they have a lot of problems When they sacked her, she simply set up a rival company of her own. You can't keep a good woman down.

See hold at arm's length, keep the ball rolling, keep cards close to chest, hold in check, keep on the edge of seat, hold end up, keep eye on the ball, can't take eyes off, have a foot in both camps, have half an eye on, can't keep hands off, keep a low profile, have an open mind, change up with the times, have wits about

See also: good, keep, man

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your own woman See: your own person

a man of his word

a man who tells the truth and keeps promises He's always been a man of his word, that I must say.

See also: his, man, word

the woman on the street also the woman in the street

an ordinary woman Her research looks at what the woman on the street thinks about the police.

Related vocabulary: the man on the street

See also: street