Governess
['gʌv(ə)nɪs] or ['gʌvɚnəs]
Definition
(noun.) a woman entrusted with the care and supervision of a child (especially in a private home).
Typed by Jewel--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A female governor; a woman invested with authority to control and direct; especially, one intrusted with the care and instruction of children, -- usually in their homes.
Edited by Jimmy
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Governante, instructress, tutoress.
Editor: Whitney
Examples
- Presently, without preface or prelude, she said, almost in the tone of one making an accusation, Meess, in England you were a governess? Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Five daughters brought up at home without a governess! Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- I am a governess myself. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Shirley never laughed at her former governess; even the little formalities and harmless peculiarities of that lady were respectable in her eyes. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Governess, or something of that sort. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- You are better placed _here_; very fit for a wife, but not at all for a governess. Jane Austen. Emma.
- And I must say I think Mary Garth a dreadful plain girl--more fit for a governess. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- A governess is all very well, but I'd rather have a lady for my sister-in-law. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- One day, a young gentleman, who was nephew to my nurse's governess, came and pressed them both to see an execution. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- What would your governess and your uncle say to see them used for such a purpose? Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- Gentlemen in his station are not accustomed to marry their governesses. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- I don't trust them governesses, Pinner, she remarked to the maid. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Governesses,' she observed, 'must ever be kept in a sort of isolation. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- My dearest, don't mention governesses; the word makes me nervous. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- He never reproves and reproves, as girls' governesses do. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Are they to be shirt-makers, or governesses? Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Oh, governesses--or widows. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Sir Pitt might have said he and his family, to be sure; but rich baronets do not need to be careful about grammar, as poor governesses must be. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- It is not in your nature to bear the desolate life governesses generally lead; you would fall ill. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Not three in three thousand raw school-girl-governesses would have answered me as you have just done. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- You will give up your governessing slavery at once. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- I'll not hear of governessing. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
Typist: Shelby