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Definition of "oldwife" [oldwife]

  • See oldsquaw. (noun)
  • Any of various fishes such as the alewife and the menhaden. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "oldwife" in a sentence
  • "As these are in the freshes, so the salts afford at certain times of the year many other kinds of fish in infinite shoals, such as the oldwife, a fish not much unlike a herring, and the sheepshead, a sort of fish which they esteem in the number of their best."
  • "A divorce trial for Kahler and his 44-year-oldwife, Karen, was scheduled to start Dec. 21, but a settlement hearing was planned for Friday."