biddy

plural biddies

1. derogatoryA woman, especially an old woman; especially one regarded as fussy or mean or a gossipy busybody.

   That Mich. drag Loretta sent me about 10 pictures of her so I wouldn't think her a "decrepit old lady." But too bad—she looked like someone's bitty aunt.

   1974 January 18, Lou Sullivan, Diary

   2 more examples

   After working a 65 hour week, men would spend their whole paycheck in saloons, drink the whole weekend, and ignore the needs of their families. The overwhelming participation of women in the [temperance] movement was prompted by motives of self preservation […] It is no accident that male historians have chosen to present these women as crazed biddies in an attempt to deny the real reason for their concern.

   1978 December 23, Michael Bronski, “Notes and Thoughts by One Gay Man on Pornography and Censorship”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 22, page 11

   You were eighteen months, and you were wearing Sam's old clothes. They were these little overalls with dinosaurs on them. You were cute as pie. And this old biddy started yelling at me at the park.

   2021, Mike Oppenhuizen, “You Say You Want a Revolution” (14:39 from the start), in Rebecca Asher, director, Atypical, season 4, episode 3, spoken by Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh), via Netflix

2. uncommonAn attractive girl.
3. archaiccolloquialAn Irish maidservant.
4. broadlyderogatoryAn Irishwoman.
5. A name used in calling a hen or chicken, often as "biddy-biddy-biddy".

   Ay, biddy, come with me.

   c. 1601–1602, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, act 3, scene 4, line 115

   1 more example

   "Well, we'll see about it by and by," said Farmer Brown's boy. "There's the breakfast bell, and I haven't fed the biddies yet."

   1915, Thornton W. Burgess, chapter XI, in The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company

comparative more biddy · superlative most biddy

1. USalternativeAlternative spelling of bitty (“very small”).

   “Was it in buckets or them little biddy cans?”

   1952, Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, Penguin Books (2014), page 210

plural biddies

1. Internetin pluralBreasts.

   It ain't like you ain't never seen these tig ole biddies before.

   2005 Rejected: You Never Know What You're Gonna Get - Page 29

1. A diminutive of the female given name Bridget.

   "Was I absurd?" said Biddy, quietly raising her eyebrows; "I am sorry for that; I didn't mean to be. I only want you to do well, and to be comfortable."

   1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter XVII, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 273

2. A surname of Scottish origin.