Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A woman's loose, unbelted dress.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A loose full gown worn by women: so named from its general resemblance to that considered characteristic of “Mother Hubbard” in the rimes of “Mother Goose.”
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun fashion A long, wide, loose-fitting
gown with long sleeves and a high neck, introduced by missionaries inPolynesia ; Originally austere, later transformed into lighter and more colorful forms.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a woman's loose unbelted dress
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Though she was chopping wood, and chopping it very well, though she wore what is sometimes called a Mother Hubbard wrapper and a stiff, clean blue-checked apron, she was not in the least a peasant.
While Caroline Was Growing Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon 1918
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Old Mother Hubbard, which is based in Massachusetts, declined to comment.
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This news came to Mr. and Mrs. Jesse at the very last minute, and they had no choice but to call Mother Hubbard's, and isn't it lovely that just a half hour before, sweet little Stevie Queen, being moi, called in and said that he was available for baby-stomping after all.
Flux Tales of Human Futures Card, Orson Scott 1990
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He and Lian-Chu have known each other since childhood, and were raised together in an orphanage called Mother Hubbard's Farm.
unknown title 2008
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[Illustrations: 20_1 - 20_15] _Early "Mother Hubbard:" J. Evans, Long Lane, circa 1770.
Banbury Chap Books And Nursery Toy Book Literature Edwin Pearson
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After they had eaten as much as they wanted, they were taken into the room where the piano is; and mamma got "The Nursery" containing the song of "Mother Hubbard," and played and sung it to them.
The Nursery, February 1873, Vol. XIII. A Monthly Magazine for Youngest People Various
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"Mother Hubbard" hat and cloak, very familiar to the students of costumes as belonging to the countrywomen of Shakspeare's time, demands the short, bunched-up petticoat and high-heeled, high-cut shoes to make it perfect.
Manners and Social Usages Mrs. John M. E. W. Sherwood
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The original "Mother Hubbard" consisted of nothing more than the first six lines which contain three rhymes.
The Chinese Boy and Girl Isaac Taylor Headland 1900
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_Holoku_ (hó-lo-kú) -- a loose gown resembling a "Mother Hubbard," much worn by the women of Hawaii.
Unwritten Literature of Hawaii The Sacred Songs of the Hula Nathaniel Bright Emerson 1877
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She was near investing in candy kisses, when yellow and scarlet-backed books containing the history of "Mother Hubbard," or the "Babes in the Woods," or "Little Red Riding Hood," attracted her eye, and she realized what life-long regret she must have suffered for spending five cents on candy kisses, when one such volume might be hers for the same money.
Old Caravan Days Mary Hartwell Catherwood 1874
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