Mother Hubbard

Mother Hub·bard

(hŭb′ərd)

A woman's loose, unbelted dress.

[Probably from illustrations of Mother Hubbard, , character in a nursery rhyme by Sarah Catherine Martin (1768-1826), British writer.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Mother Hubbard

(ˈhʌbəd)

(Clothing & Fashion) (sometimes not capitals) a woman's full-length unbelted dress

[C19: after Mother Hubbard, a character in a nursery rhyme]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Moth′er Hub′bard

(ˈhʌb ərd)
n.

a women's loose gown, usu. fitted at the shoulders.

[1915–20; after a nursery rhyme character]

Mother Hubbard

A loose, baggy dress for women.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

Mother Hubbard - a woman's loose unbelted dress

muumuu

dress, frock - a one-piece garment for a woman; has skirt and bodice

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

She was dressed usually in a pink Mother Hubbard, and she wore all day long a large straw hat.

View in context

Old Mother Hubbard was boosting me to beat the band as a genuine Pomeranian-Hambletonian-Red-Irish-Cochin-China-Stoke-Pogis fox terrier.

View in context

Did little maidens' hearts beat the same under pearl-embroidered bodices as they do under Mother Hubbard cloaks?

View in context

After this memorable event, I went to the hatter's, and the bootmaker's, and the hosier's, and felt rather like Mother Hubbard's dog whose outfit required the services of so many trades.

View in context

Shipton, and Mother Hubbard, and Dame Durden, and so many names of that sort that my own name soon became quite lost among them.

View in context

The company's Christmas show will be Old Mother Hubbard, a play by David Wood.

Comedy capers at arts centre

I felt like Mother Hubbard, I had nothing in the cupboard.

I opened wheelie bin and found my stolen tortoise... WIDOWER'S DELIGHT AS THIEVES RETURN PET

A MOTHER Hubbard's fish and chip shop is set to open in Fartown after planners approved an application to turn a former tool hire shop into a restaurant/takeaway.

Backing for fish and chip shop

Old Mother Hubbard treats (and a grassy lounge area) on Gunbarrel Brewing Company's patio; gunbarrelbrewing.com.

A TAIL OF TWO CITIES

Felix's perceptive and unsophisticated voice is shown by his use of expressions like "Mother Hubbard!" The author's keen understanding of teens' inner lives is particularly apparent in the scene in which Felix confronts his bully, only to then realize the bully has his own vulnerability.

Bunker, Lisa. Felix Yz

The organisers invite people to walk through these deserted streets and locate scattered artworks painted by two artists -- The Divine Mother Hubbard and Jemima Puddleduck -- who have never met but who share a common passion for the Idiosynchronism movement.

Getting to know the capital of culture better

The characters represent Old Mother Hubbard, Humpty Dumpty, Little Bo Peep, Jack and Jill, Little Miss Muffet and many more, a total of 15 nursery rhymes in all.