sheila

plural sheilas

1. AustraliaNew ZealandslangA woman.

   ‘I didn’t like that sheila that tried to latch onto him, but.’

   1982, Paul Radley, My Blue-Checker Corker and Me, Sydney: Fontana/Collins, page 16

   3 more examples

   He was a real gentleman and although he never asked any personal questions as to why ‘a couple of sheilas’ was hitch hiking to Perth, he said he was glad of the company.

   2009, Rosemary Van Den Berg, Clogs and Bare Feet, page 208

   “[…]You know I counted no less than fifty-five sheilas out on the street today, all screaming when you guys played.”

   2010, Deke Rivers, The Singer and His Songs, page 22

   I definitely didn’t think about getting married. I was real scared of sheilas back then.

   2011, Kate Shayler, Burnished: Burnside Life Stories, page 8

   Synonyms: babe, baggage, bim, bint, bird, bitch, blone, broad · Antonyms: bloke, boy, bro, broski, bruh, cat, chap, chappy

plural sheilas · alternative shayla

1. alternativeAlternative form of shayla.

   They sport short hair, no makeup, and do not wear a sheila.

   2005, Meraj Rizvi, “Lesbianism makes its way to varsity dorms”, in Khaleej Times

1. A female given name from Irish, popular in the UK from the 1920s to the 1950s; variant forms Shelagh, Sheelagh, Sheilagh, Sheela, Sile.

   Were English girls not good enough for him that he must needs come up and take away Sheila Mackenzie, and keep her there in the South.

   1874, William Black, A Princess of Thule, Adamant Media Corporation, →ISBN, page 295

   2 more examples

   What lovely names for girls there are! / There's Stella like the Evening Star, / And Sylvia like a rustling tree, / And Lola like a melody, / And Flora like a flowery morn, / And Sheila like a field of corn,

   1933, Eleanor Farjeon, “Girls' Names”, in Over the Garden Wall, Faber and Faber, page 91

   He shortened her name to Sheila which, in spite of its primness, she seemed to love. - - - For Susheela - Sheila, as she was now known - this creeping daylight signalled the start, not the end of sleep.

   2008, Helen Walsh, Once Upon a Time in England, →ISBN

1. alternativeAlternative form of Sheela.