SPINSTER
(also see OLD MAID)
NOUNS
► SINGLEHOOD the state of being single or unmarried; spinsterhood → 1840
NOUNS – PERSON
► BACHELOR-WOMAN a spinster → 1898 Eng. dial. (Bk.)
► BAND OF HOPE a spinster who hopes to marry an eligible man, esp. a clergyman → 1958 Eng. sl. (Bk.)
► CANDLE-BASHER a spinster; a female masturbator → E20 Brit. sl.
► MAN-HUNTERS women, esp. spinsters and widows → L19 Brit. jocular usage
► PUSSY an old woman, usually a spinster, who is inquisitive and meddling → 1920 sl.
► QUAIL an old maid; a spinster → M19 US tramps’ sl.
► SINGLE WOMAN a spinster → c1449
Lexicophilia 