laundress
Professional garment washer
A laundress is a woman who washes and irons clothes and linens, especially one employed to do so professionally.
The term is historical, from an era when laundering was manual labor and domestic service was common: The laundress came on Mondays to collect the household linens.
The male equivalent, laundryman, referred more often to someone who collected and delivered laundry than to one who washed it.
One employed to serve
- housemaidLive-in cleaning employee
- chambermaidHotel room attendant
- scullery maidLowest-ranking female kitchen servant
- charwomanHired female cleaner
washerwoman · housekeeper · cook · below stairs · staff · domestic service · uniform · cap
Ridged laundry surface
- scrubbingCleaning by rubbing hard
- sudsSoapy froth
- tubOpen washing basin
- pailOpen-topped carrying vessel
handwash · wringer · mangle · soak · rinse · starch · bleach · bluing
Of a prim era
- EdwardianOf early twentieth-century Britain
- manorLanded aristocratic residence
- estateProperty and grounds
- workhouseInstitution housing poor laborers
tenement · taking in washing · copper · dolly · flat iron · sad iron · servants' quarters · industrial revolution
Strenuous, prolonged effort
- exhaustionState of utter depletion
- monotonyTiresome lack of change
- fatigueWeariness from prolonged exertion
- tediumWearisome dullness
backbreaking · menial · stooped · sweat · labor · hardship · endless · repetitive
French Impressionist's surname
- DickensianGrimly poor, socially unjust
- washerwomenFemale clothes cleaners
- riverLarge flowing watercourse
- public fountainOutdoor communal water display
servant
One employed to serve
- housemaidLive-in cleaning employee
- chambermaidHotel room attendant
- scullery maidLowest-ranking female kitchen servant
charwoman · washerwoman · housekeeper · cook · below stairs · staff · domestic service · uniform · cap · wages
washboard
Ridged laundry surface
pail · handwash · wringer · mangle · soak · rinse · starch · bleach · bluing · lye
Victorian
Of a prim era
- EdwardianOf early twentieth-century Britain
- manorLanded aristocratic residence
- estateProperty and grounds
workhouse · tenement · taking in washing · copper · dolly · flat iron · sad iron · servants' quarters · industrial revolution · social class
toil
Strenuous, prolonged effort
- exhaustionState of utter depletion
- monotonyTiresome lack of change
- fatigueWeariness from prolonged exertion
tedium · backbreaking · menial · stooped · sweat · labor · hardship · endless · repetitive · unrewarding
Degas
French Impressionist's surname
- DickensianGrimly poor, socially unjust
- washerwomenFemale clothes cleaners
- riverLarge flowing watercourse
- castle staffchamberlain, chambermaid, butler, guard, handmaiden
- hotel staffbellhop, concierge, housekeeper, front desk clerk, receptionist
- household staffmaid, butler, housekeeper, cook, nanny
- school staffteacher, teachers, principal, professor, librarian
- servantsbutler, maid, servant, servants, domestics
- camp followerssutler, washerwoman, camp cook, prostitute, concubine
laundressmistress
Illicit female lover
lady of the house · employer · madam · customer · client
laundressseamstress
One who stitches garments
tailor · dressmaker · weaver · embroiderer · knitter