henhussy

plural henhussies · alternative hen hussy · alternative hen-hussy

1. obsoleteA girl or woman who tends chickens.

   1 more example

   "John," called Mr. Carter, "who'd ye think's going t' take care of the hens?"¶ Newsy's feet stopping more suddenly than his head, he was obliged to turn a rapid handspring in order to reestablish his equilibrium. He came up yelling, "What! Her?"¶ "Yes, her," boomed Mr. Carter. "She’s t’ be the hen hussy on these premises.”

   1913, Alice Louise Lee, “The "Hen Hussy"”, in A Senior Co-ed, page 122

2. derogatoryobsoleteA man who performs tasks that traditionally belong to a woman.

   2 more examples

   When I saw the family last, his second wife had built her nest, though not half so well as her predecessor. She was sitting on her eggs, and was most affectionately tended by her husband. Sophia complains that he has become somewhat of a hen-hussy, and had rather be cowering over the nest than abroad on the wing, with his gay flock.

   1840 June 28, Miss Sedgewick, “The Canary Family”, in The Ladies' Pearl, volume 1, number 1, page 66

   Albert had arrived some time before, and though he had not dared to offer Mary any assistance, lest his grandmother should pronounce him a "henhussy," his eye had followed her from one place to another, as she fancied, with a more impatient expression than she had ever seen in them, when direct toward her.

   1846 November 28, “One Fault in a Wife”, in The Mothers' Journal and Family Visitant, volume 11, number 11, page 342

   Synonyms: betty, cot-betty, cot-quean

3. archaicA housewife.

   She came forward, a henhussy in her middle forties, shaped somewhat like a thick Letter S as a consequence of upper frontal stick-out and lower rear protrusion.

   1967, Harry Allen Smith, Son of Rhubarb, Trident Press, page 71