kembster
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English kembestere, kempstare, kemster, equivalent to kemb + -ster.
Noun
editkembster (plural kembsters)
- (archaic, historical) A woman who cleans or combs out wool
- 2005, Marjorie Keniston McIntosh, Working Women in English Society, 1300-1620, page 15:
- A married woman who supplemented her family's income by brewing ale or combing wool for yarn would not have been identified in the records as a brewster or kembster.