laundress

noun

laun·​dress ˈlȯn-drəs How to pronounce laundress (audio)
ˈlän-
: a woman who is a laundry worker

Examples of laundress in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Her own parents, Lee and Eva Renfrow, worked as a cook and a laundress. — Scott Simon, NPR, 6 Jan. 2026 Melchor was a foreman on a sugarcane plantation, and Luisa was a laundress. — Christopher Rudolph, PEOPLE, 23 Sep. 2025 Harriet Scott, who worked as a laundress into her later years, died in 1876. — Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025 Your mother used the napkin rings to lighten the load of the laundress (who, for all Miss Manners knows, may have been your mother herself). — Judith Martin, Mercury News, 19 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for laundress

Word History

First Known Use

1550, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of laundress was in 1550

Browse Nearby Words

Launder-Ometer
laundress
Laundromat
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Laundress.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/laundress. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on laundress

Nglish: Translation of laundress for Spanish Speakers

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