beldam

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bel·dam

or bel·dame  (bĕl′dəm, -dăm)
n.
An old woman, especially one who is considered ugly.

[Middle English, grandmother : bel, indicating respect (from Old French bel, fine, from Latin bellus; see deu- in Indo-European roots) + dame, lady; see dame.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

beldam

(ˈbɛldəm) or

beldame

n
1. archaic an old woman, esp an ugly or malicious one; hag
2. an obsolete word for grandmother
[C15: from bel- grand (as in grandmother), from Old French bel beautiful, from Latin bellus + dam mother, variant of dame]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

bel•dam

(ˈbɛl dəm, -dæm)

also bel•dame

(-dəm, -ˌdeɪm)

n.
an old woman, esp. an ugly one; hag.
[1400–50; late Middle English: grandmother <bel- grand- (< Middle French bel fine; see belle) + dam mother (see dam 2]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.beldam - an ugly evil-looking old womanbeldam - an ugly evil-looking old woman  
old woman - a woman who is old
2.beldam - a woman of advanced agebeldam - a woman of advanced age    
old woman - a woman who is old
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

beldam

or beldame
noun
An ugly, frightening old woman:
Slang: biddy.
Archaic: trot.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
'If ever you listen to these beldames again, I'll bite you.'
"You're gossiping like a pair of beldames," she chided them.
In fact, she is a regular beldame. You have seen her once, so what do you think of her?
The moment he produced the glittering earbobs, the whimpering and whining of the sempiternal beldame was at an end.
But it was not the withered hand of the angry old beldame that fell on the managerial ear, but the envelope itself, the cause of all the trouble, the magic envelope that opened with the blow, scattering the bank-notes, which escaped in a fantastic whirl of giant butterflies.