| Library / English Dictionary |
MA'AM
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A woman of refinement
Example:
a chauffeur opened the door of the limousine for the grand lady
Synonyms:
dame; gentlewoman; lady; ma'am; madam
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("ma'am" is a kind of...):
adult female; woman (an adult female person (as opposed to a man))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ma'am"):
grande dame (a middle-aged or elderly woman who is stylish and highly respected)
madame (title used for a married Frenchwoman)
Context examples:
No, ma'am—the horses were just coming out, but I could not bide any longer; I was afraid of being late.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Never had he been at such an altitude of living, and he kept himself in the background, listening, observing, and pleasuring, replying in reticent monosyllables, saying, Yes, miss, and No, miss, to her, and Yes, ma'am, and No, ma'am, to her mother.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
'Why, to be sure, ma'am,' said she, 'it would not prevent his marrying anybody else.'
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
"They're coming, ma'am," was the answer.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
“Well, ma'am, what do you say to it? Can you spare me for an hour or two? Shall I go?”
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
It is not a settled thing, ma'am, yet.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
“How do you do, ma'am?” I said to Miss Murdstone.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Finally he said: I'll tell you what I'll do. Your remarks, ma'am, has some weight in them.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Not at all, thank you, ma'am.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
She often says, when the letter is first opened, 'Well, Hetty, now I think you will be put to it to make out all that checker-work'—don't you, ma'am?
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
