Mother Hubbard

plural Mother Hubbards

1. fashionA long, wide, loose gown with long sleeves and a high neck originally introduced by Christian missionaries as an adaptation of 19th-century European fashion to Polynesia but subsequently inclusive of lighter and more colorful variations.

   1 more example

   Her arms were like legs of mutton, her breasts like giant cabbages; her face, broad and fleshy, gave you an impression of almost indecent nakedness, and vast chin succeeded to vast chin. I do not know how many of them there were. They fell away voluminously into the capaciousness of her bosom. She was dressed usually in a pink Mother Hubbard, and she wore all day long a large straw hat.

   1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 49”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC

   Synonyms: holoku

comparative more Mother Hubbard · superlative most Mother Hubbard

1. colloquialidiomaticEmpty.

   "It's a bit Mother Hubbard, I'm afraid.'" We made our way through the empty house.

   2013, Colum McCann, TransAtlantic

   1 more example

   "Other than my earthquake kit, the cupboards are looking pretty Mother Hubbard. We can go to the Farmers Market and get some produce."

   2012, Cecil Castellucci, Beige, page 24