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maid n OED sb1 1, 3 arch exc dial; EDD sb 1, 4 for
sense 1. 1 A woman; a young unmarried girl or daughter; freq as
term of address; MAIDEN. 1858 [LOWELL] i, 15 I'll carry this bit
of a thing to my maid. 1887 Evening Telegram Christmas No 9 [to wife:] Pray for
us, maid; we're in God's hands. . . 'I've brought a Christmas Box for 'ee, Bets, my
maid,' said her husband. 1907 DUNCAN 150 'Who is this person? Man or woman?' ' Maid,'
said Parson Stump. 1933 GREENLEAF xxv So, too. . .'maid' [is used] for girl'or
rather for 'wornan,' as I have heard a grandmother addressed as 'maid.' T 80/2-64 If you
get caught up there wi' a maid, 'twas murder! Snowballed an' sodded or whatever time o'
the year 'twas! T 194/7-65 An' the little girl want to know if I was goin' [to the]
barracks; a little small maid. C 68-5 It is very common in [Bonavista] to hear a person
say, 'I met Jack Smith's maid at the store today'; reference is being made either to his
wife or his daughter. 1975 COOK 12 He wor jest somebody dying and I wor just a slip of a
maid. 2 Attrib, comb maid racket: courting; see
RACKET2. T 141/68-652 An' we'd go down
practically every night on the maid racket. maid teacher:
unmarried female schoolteacher. T 169/206-651 We
had two [teachers]; there was always a maid teacher in lower part an' a man teacher in
upper part.
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