beldame


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bel·dam

or bel·dame  (bĕl′dəm, -dăm)
n.
An old woman, especially one who is considered ugly.
[Middle English, grandmother : bel, indicating respect (from Old French bel, fine, from Latin bellus; see deu- in Indo-European roots) + dame, lady; see dame.]
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.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.beldame - an ugly evil-looking old womanbeldame - an ugly evil-looking old woman  
beldam, crone, hag, witch
old woman - a woman who is old
2.beldame - a woman of advanced agebeldame - a woman of advanced age    
beldam
old woman - a woman who is old
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

beldam

or beldame
noun
An ugly, frightening old woman:
crone, hag, witch.
Slang: biddy.
Archaic: trot.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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References in classic literature ?
In fact, she is a regular beldame. You have seen her once, so what do you think of her?
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The moment he produced the glittering earbobs, the whimpering and whining of the sempiternal beldame was at an end.
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But it was not the withered hand of the angry old beldame that fell on the managerial ear, but the envelope itself, the cause of all the trouble, the magic envelope that opened with the blow, scattering the bank-notes, which escaped in a fantastic whirl of giant butterflies.
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"I have a curiosity to hear my fortune told: therefore, Sam, order the beldame forward."
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"What work are you about now?" says Judy, making an ancient snap at her like a very sharp old beldame.
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Jurgis was willing, and so was Duane, and so they went to one of the high-class poolrooms where brokers and merchants gambled (with society women in a private room), and they put up ten dollars each upon a horse called "Black Beldame," a six to one shot, and won.
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'If ever you listen to these beldames again, I'll bite you.'
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"You're gossiping like a pair of beldames," she chided them.
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Oh what a yell of triumph was sent up By thousands, when from King William's statue The stern gigantic figure of Reform, Full of the very spirit of the TIMES, Lept down amid the mass municipal; And bearing in his arms the wizen'd witch, Who had been doomed to die by Eighteen men, Who had their city's glory deep at heart, He tossed the blotted Beldame 'midst the flames!
Whim and Whipping: Satire and the Great Reform Act in Scottish Periodical Poetry
The biggest contributor to his record was Sightseek, a filly who won four Grade 1s that year including the Beldame Stakes.
The breakdown of his magnificent record-breaking haul
Agnes" first runs into "the old beldame" (90) Angela in the castle, and ends up stumped by her expression: associating Angela with a book, and describing Porphyro's confusion as a failed attempt at reading, Keats narrates, "Porphyro upon her face doth look, / Like puzzled urchin on an aged crone / Who keepeth clos'd a wond'rous riddle-book" (127-30).
Keats's ways: the dark passages of mediation and why he gives up Hyperion
Olivier E, Beldame J, Ould Slimane M, Defives T, Duparc F.
Multilevel magnetic resonance imaging analysis of multifidus-longissimus cleavage planes in the lumbar spine and clinical application to the Wiltse approach

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