maiden
Americannoun
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a girl or young unmarried woman; maid.
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Archaic. a female virgin.
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Maiden, (in Neopaganism) the first form of the Goddess, represented as a young woman and said to symbolize youth and the first stages of life or growth.
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a horse that has never won a race.
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a race open only to maiden horses.
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an instrument resembling the guillotine, formerly used in Scotland for beheading criminals.
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Cricket. maiden over.
adjective
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Archaic. of, relating to, or befitting a girl or unmarried woman.
her maiden virtues.
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Archaic. (of a woman, especially one past middle age) unmarried.
my maiden aunt.
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(of a girl or woman) never having had sexual intercourse; virgin.
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made, tried, appearing, etc., for the first time.
a maiden flight.
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(of a horse) never having won a race or a prize.
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(of a prize or a race) offered for or open only to maiden horses.
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untried, as a knight, soldier, or weapon.
noun
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archaic
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a young unmarried girl, esp when a virgin
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( as modifier )
a maiden blush
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horse racing
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a horse that has never won a race
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( as modifier )
a maiden race
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cricket See maiden over
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Also called: clothes maiden. dialect a frame on which clothes are hung to dry; clothes horse
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(modifier) of or relating to an older unmarried woman
a maiden aunt
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(modifier) of or involving an initial experience or attempt
a maiden voyage
maiden speech
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(modifier) (of a person or thing) untried; unused
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(modifier) (of a place) never trodden, penetrated, or captured
Other Word Forms
- maiden-like adjective
- maidenish adjective
- maidenship noun
Etymology
Origin of maiden
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English mægden, equivalent to mægd, mæg(e)th (cognate with German Magd, Gothic magaths ) + -en -en 5
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
South Africa, who have won all seven of their matches in this tournament, are searching for a maiden T20 World Cup title having previously reached the final in 2024.
From BBC
Archer, who began by beating the bat four times in a maiden, was unlucky not to take a wicket early, which allowed Tim Seifert and Finn Allen to build a partnership of 64.
From BBC
Miss Allen was known as “a maiden lady, sharp and wiry, with a grain of wit which could not tolerate nonsense.”
From Literature
Their breakthrough arrives with a performance of Temple Maiden, a dance tracing the love and envy of two maidens who turn into serpents.
From Los Angeles Times
True love was for fair princesses and maidens and knights in shining armor.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
