blowze

English

Alternative forms

• blouse
• blowess
• blowse

Etymology

Probably from the same root as blush.

Noun

blowze (plural blowzes)

1. (obsolete) A ruddy, fat-faced woman; a wench.
   • c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:

     Sweet blowse, you are a beauteous blossom, sure.

Derived terms

• blowzy

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “blowze”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)